By Lachlan
A children’s classic is getting a grown‑up sequel. Dame Jacqueline Wilson has announced Picture Imperfect, an adult follow‑on to her 1999 hit The Illustrated Mum, with Dolphin and Star now navigating life in their thirties. It lands on August 28, 2025, in hardback, e‑book, and audio from Transworld.
What Wilson’s adult sequel promises
Picture Imperfect picks up years after readers last saw the sisters at the heart of The Illustrated Mum. Dolphin is living in a small studio flat in Brighton, working days in a tattoo parlour and spending too many nights rescuing her mother, Marigold, from police stations. The rhythm is familiar, the responsibility relentless, and the pull of the past strong. Wilson sets Dolphin at a crossroads: keep patching over a life that feels stuck, or take a risk on change.
That choice runs through Dolphin’s relationships. On one side is Lee, a steady gardener with a grounded life and a daughter, Ava, who brings warmth and routine. On the other is Joel, an actor who offers spark and intensity. Wilson has always written love stories that sit inside bigger questions—who am I loyal to, and what kind of life do I want?—and she’s doing the same here, only with adult stakes: jobs, rent, caregiving, and the cost of starting over.
Star’s path looks very different. She has built a medical career in Scotland, settled with a family and a clear sense of direction. From that secure perch, she holds out a hand to Dolphin—an offer that is both generous and complicated. If Dolphin leaves Brighton, what happens to Marigold? If she stays, what does that do to her own future? The tension isn’t just romantic; it’s about duty, independence, and how siblings grow up together but grow apart, too.
Wilson’s original novel tackled mental health head‑on through Marigold’s bipolar disorder, and this sequel signals no retreat from those themes. The questions are older now: how adult children carry long‑standing care roles, how love and exasperation can coexist, and how identity can get wrapped around family history. Expect scenes that sit uncomfortably close to real life—the late‑night calls, the promises to do better, the small wins that feel huge when you’re living on a knife‑edge.
There’s also a knowing wink in the setting. A tattoo parlour isn’t just a workplace; it nods to Marigold’s ink in The Illustrated Mum and turns that visual motif into Dolphin’s daily reality. Tattoos are memory, rebellion, art, and story—perfect terrain for a character trying to rewrite her own.
Why this sequel matters now
Wilson’s readers have grown up. Many who read The Illustrated Mum as kids are now in their thirties themselves, juggling careers, relationships, and family responsibilities. Picture Imperfect meets them where they are. It asks what happens when the problems you knew as a child don’t vanish with adulthood—they morph, and they follow you into new rooms.
This is Wilson’s second step into adult fiction after last year’s Think Again, a sequel to her Girls in Love series. That move made sense: the audience that once devoured her school corridors and kitchen‑table dramas wanted to see those characters with grown‑up worries. Picture Imperfect pushes that idea further because The Illustrated Mum was never a simple story. It framed love in a difficult home with honesty, and readers remember the sisters not as characters on a page but as people they knew.
The Brighton–Scotland split gives the book a clean structure. Brighton brings the clutter of everyday survival—shift work, favours, late buses, and the constant hum of crisis management. Scotland offers fresh air and a re‑drawn map. But newness isn’t the same as escape, and Wilson rarely lets a choice be easy. If Dolphin heads north, she risks guilt and distance. If she stays put, she risks staying small. The stakes aren’t dramatic for the sake of drama—they’re the sort you feel when you’re staring at your bank balance on a Tuesday night.
The announcement arrived with a memorable piece of theatre: Wilson unveiled a statue of herself covered in tattoos, a playful nod to the story’s iconography and a smart bit of publishing showmanship. It will start at Waterstones Brighton before heading out on a mini UK tour. Publishing loves a strong image—this one is simple, shareable, and perfectly on theme. Expect a steady drip of photos, readings, and early extracts as the date approaches.
Transworld’s plan—hardback, e‑book, and audio on day one—signals a wide net. The audio audience for character‑driven fiction has boomed, especially for books that balance warmth and grit. A late‑August release also catches that back‑to‑reading mood as the summer winds down and book clubs set their autumn lists.
If you’re new to Wilson, you don’t need homework to start here. But there’s a clear reward for returning to The Illustrated Mum before August. The emotional weight in Picture Imperfect will land harder if you remember the sisters’ early survival tactics and Marigold’s highs and lows. The timeline checks out, too: the original arrived in 1999, and a child on the cusp of adolescence then would plausibly be in their early to mid‑thirties now. That span lets Wilson write about the long tail of a childhood spent negotiating chaos.
It’s also part of a wider shift. Children’s and YA authors have been writing across age groups for years, and readers have followed. The appeal is simple: you trust the voice that once understood you, and you want that same clarity on adult problems. Wilson’s signature—direct, empathetic, sharply observed—translates cleanly to this stage of life.
So what should readers expect tonally? Likely the hallmarks: fast, clean chapters; dialogue that sounds like people you know; and a refusal to caricature adults who struggle. The romance thread matters, but it won’t be the whole show. The heart of the book will be work and care, sisters trying to be kind without being swallowed, and the quiet bravery of deciding what a good life looks like when no option is perfect.
And that title—Picture Imperfect—does a lot of lifting. It suggests family snapshots that never tell the whole story, the way social media can tidy the mess of real life, and the idea that imperfection isn’t failure. For Dolphin, the task isn’t finding a flawless plan; it’s choosing the imperfections she can live with.
Expect more details through the year—cover art, tour dates tied to the tattooed statue, and an audio cast announcement. For longtime fans, it’s a chance to check back in with characters who felt like friends. For new readers, it’s a standalone story about the price of loyalty and the freedom that comes with finally making a decision.
Picture Imperfect publishes on August 28, 2025, from Transworld in hardback, audio, and e‑book.