Lucy Apps Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Lucy Apps is a successful published author.

She started out life in East London, where she was born. She got trained as a doctor at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry and now is employed as a GP. She likes to spend her time volunteering with women who have learning disabilities.

She is the sister to Peter Apps. His book Show Me the Bodies was all about the Grenfell tragedy and it won the Orwell Prize. Lucy would follow in his footsteps writing books and came out with her debut novel as well, Gloria Don’t Speak.

The book was largely inspired by the real life experiences that Lucy had treating patients who had special needs. The novel was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2026, which was announced that month.

Gloria Don’t Speak is a 2026 book by Lucy Apps. The story follows along with the main character of Gloria, who is a 19 year old autistic woman who has a learning disability and lives with her mother in east London. If you have been looking for a unique and somehow authentic even though it is fiction story that is going to move you and is also unlike other stories out there, this might be the one you want!

Gloria is unlike others her age in that she has a learning disability. She has a restless spirit and at nineteen years of age in her area, there isn’t all that much to do outside of wandering through the local parks, looking for friendship and doing her best to keep out of trouble. Things change for her when she meets an older man named Jack, and suddenly one of her options is to go around Jack’s.

When she meets Jack, she starts to get drawn into a violent act that might end up changing her life. Jack is someone who needs the company that Gloria provides but he is also is an angry person who is unpredictable and mad at the world. Once the act of violence happens, it appears that their friendship and their relationship must come to an end.

Now Gloria is someone who is out there on her own. When she hears that Jack has gotten out of prison, though, everything turns upside down in her world. Beautiful and heart-breaking, this novel is a picture of a woman who his dealing with violence, vulnerability, and the desire to connect as she searches for safety and understanding as she transits between her mother’s home, the courts, and a group home.

This compelling story will resonate with readers all the more thanks to it drawing and pulling from the direct frontline experience Lucy Apps has had not only working in healthcare but the volunteer work that she does with women who have learning disabilities.

Many others have found this to be a compelling novel as well. Mona Arshi is a judge for the Women’s Prize and referred to the story as a ‘brilliant book’, and enjoyed the ways that different themes were explored through the fresh, original voice of Gloria. Insightful, engaging, sensitive and more, this is a debut that readers won’t want to miss. Author Tom Newlands said that the book is ‘unflinching and full of heart’.

Author Simon Wroe has also praised the book, saying that ‘this story of a vulnerable person navigating the world brims with pinpoint detail and creeping threat’. An incredible debut and a pick as one of the best debuts of 2026 by The Observer, this is one that readers won’t want to miss. Check out Gloria Don’t Speak by Lucy Apps to read this story from start to finish and see what happens with Gloria!