More than 300 narrators have come together to record one page each of my debut novel, EARTHY BITTER SWEET. The whole book is passed from voice to voice, from the first line to the last. The result is a Frankenstein's Monster of an audiobook, and I’m asking everyone who downloads it to donate whatever they can to two charities close to my heart: The Forward Trust, and Alzheimer’s Society.

The Forward Trust helps people break the cycles of addiction and crime, and believes that anyone is capable of lasting change, whatever their past. That belief sits at the centre of my book. Its hero, Florian Ashmore, spends years hiding behind borrowed names, and comes home from a life of crime to a vice he has already survived once. The story is about how hard it is to be seen as you really are, and how much courage it takes to keep going, and to be loved anyway. Recovery isn’t a single decision. It’s a long, ordinary kind of bravery, and it needs support.

Alzheimer’s Society is the UK’s leading dementia charity. It supports people living with dementia and the people who care for them, campaigns for change, and funds vital research. It does this for families who are often facing something frightening and exhausting.

My book is about the names we wear and what it costs to be truly known. When Florian Ashmore comes home after years of exile, he finds a brother he no longer recognises and a mother who no longer recognises him. There is a particular grief in being a stranger to someone who once knew you best, and in learning how to love someone who can’t give that recognition back. I wanted to write about that tenderly, and I wanted the book to do some good for the families who live it.

If you can, please give, and then enjoy the book.