ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – Six Little Words by Sally Page

Posted on 3rd March 2026 By Nicola

Six Little Words by Sally Page will be published on 12th March by Harper Collins. My thanks to the publishers and Sally for the proof copy.

Can one small note give her the courage to find a new path?

One Note. One Act of kindness. Her new beginning is closer than she thinks.

Kate gave up her dreams of being a painter years ago. But six little words pinned to the noticeboard of her local café could change her path forever.

‘To be, or not to be…’ – printed on orange card with no explanation – appears one morning.

Each day, a new line from a different Shakespeare play is added, sparking curiosity throughout the café. Among the regulars is Bardy, a retired English teacher grappling with writer’s block.

As Kate and Bardy follow this breadcrumb trail, they discover a local community group encouraging people to rediscover their own creative spark – and the long-lost courage to chase it.

For Kate, their new group might just offer a second chance at happiness, if only Bardy can find the strength to share his story too…

Escape into the world of Sally Page with the perfect armchair read! From the author of phenomenal bestsellers The Keeper of Stories and The Book of Beginnings comes another novel that will warm your heart.

Six little words on a café noticeboard bring together a group of people looking to embrace or rediscover their creativity. Bardy is a former English teacher who is struggling with life alone after his divorce. Kate is in a similar situation and also recovering from illness. Along with Bardy’s best friend Luigi, prickly Dane Pia, and married couple Linda and Leonard, the group provides friendship, support and encouragement, whilst bringing out their natural talents for various kinds of art.

Sally Page has a wonderful warmth and empathy to her writing and in this book she has created such interesting, likeable yet flawed characters. I loved Linda for her caring nature (and for tackling her frustration at Leonard refusing to wear his hearing aids), Pia for her wisdom, Kate for her vulnerability, Bardy for his kindness and Luigi for his hospitality. Each and every one of these characters, along with a few others who play a role in the story, brings something special to the mix and I came away from this book thinking that it must be really nice to be in the midst of such an amazing bunch of people. I loved the trajectory that each character’s progress took and by the end of the book I felt each one had achieved something and reached a kind of peace with themselves and their lives.

Six Little Words is a joyous read. It’s full of colour, art, love, camaraderie, inspiration, optimism and humour. Put all these attributes together and it’s quite simply a splendid read from start to finish. I loved it!

After studying history at university, Sally moved to London to work in advertising. In her spare time she studied floristry at night school and eventually opened her own flower shop. Sally came to appreciate that flower shops offer a unique window into people’s stories and she began to photograph and write about this floral life in a series of non-fiction books. Later, Sally continued her interest in writing when she founded her fountain pen company, PLOOMS.

Sally now lives in Dorset. Her eldest daughter, Alex, is a doctor and her youngest daughter is the author Libby Page.

Sally’s debut novel, The Keeper of Stories, was a Sunday Times bestseller, has now sold over 500,000 copies and has been translated into 29 languages.