People Pleaser

The fiercely funny and relatable new novel about people-pleasing, burnout and finding your voice - the perfect uplifting holiday read for fans of Sophie Kinsella and Alexandra Potter.

‘Insightful, inspirational and SO much fun’ Marian Keyes

‘People Pleaser is like therapy in rom-com form’ Beth O’Leary

‘Completely addictive. A hard yes from me – I flew through it’ Vogue Williams

Meet Olivia Greenwood. Unfiltered. Unashamed. Unapologetic. Or at least, she’s about to be . . .


Olivia has been trying very hard to please people for a very long time.

Whilst her husband’s doing burpees, she’s doing everything else. She smiles through yet another ‘opportunity’ that isn’t a promotion. And she says yes to her mother, when what she really means is no.

But today, everything is going to change . . .

After soul-crushing career disappointment, a fiery young woman with a chip on her shoulder, and a single blue hallucinogenic gummy lead to a raucous night, Olivia wakes up the next morning, fresh out of f**ks to give and unable to please anyone but HERSELF.

So who actually is Olivia Greenwood when she’s not trying to be what everyone else wants her to be?

Warm, witty and empowering, this is the story of one woman’s journey to stop people-pleasing and start living for herself.

Bryony Gordon is the author of the bestselling The Wrong Knickers and Mad Woman, plus the Sunday Times Number One bestsellers You Got This and Mad Girl, which were both nominated for British Book Awards. She writes a column in the Daily Mail and is the host of the podcast The Life of Bryony. She previously wrote for the Telegraph for twenty-three years, becoming one of the paper’s best loved writers, and hosted the Mad World podcast. In 2016 she founded Mental Health Mates, now a global peer support network which encourages people with mental health issues to connect and get out of the house. In 2017 she won the MIND Making A Difference Award for her work in changing the perception of mental health in the media. In 2018 she ran the London Marathon in her underwear. In 2020, she won the Journalists’ Charity Award from the Society of Editors for mental health campaigning, and in 2023 she was a recipient of the Royal College of Psychiatrists President’s Medal for improving the lives of people with mental illness.