Small Pleasures
Clare Chambers
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From the publisher
LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2021
'A WORD-OF-MOUTH HIT' Evening Standard
'A very fine book... It's witty and sharp and reads like something by Barbara Pym or Anita Brookner, without ever feeling like a pastiche'
David Nicholls
'Perfect'
India Knight
'Beautiful'
Jessie Burton
'Wonderful'
Richard Osman
'Miraculous'
Tracy Chevalier
'A wonderful novel. I loved it'
Nina Stibbe
'Effortless to read, but every sentence lingers in the mind'
Lissa Evans
'This is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. I honestly don't want you to be without it'
Lucy Mangan
'Gorgeous... If you're looking for something escapist and bittersweet, I could not recommend more'
Pandora Sykes
'Remarkable... Small Pleasures is no small pleasure'
The Times
'An irresistible novel - wry, perceptive and quietly devastating'
Mail on Sunday
'Chambers' eye for undemonstrative details achieves a Larkin-esque lucidity'
Guardian
'An almost flawlessly written tale of genuine, grown-up romantic anguish'
The Sunday Times
1957, the suburbs of South East London. Jean Swinney is a journalist on a local paper, trapped in a life of duty and disappointment from which there is no likelihood of escape.
When a young woman, Gretchen Tilbury, contacts the paper to claim that her daughter is the result of a virgin birth, it is down to Jean to discover whether she is a miracle or a fraud.
As the investigation turns her quiet life inside out, Jean is suddenly given an unexpected chance at friendship, love and - possibly - happiness.
But there will, inevitably, be a price to pay.
Book of the Year for: The Times, Daily Telegraph, Evening Standard, Daily Express, Metro, Spectator, Red Magazine and Good Housekeeping