SMALL PLEASURES – CLARE CHAMBERS

***Out now: Clare Chambers s new novel Shy Creatures*** LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN S PRIZE FOR FICTION A BBC 2 BETWEEN THE COVERS BOOK CLUB PICK Wonderful RICHARD OSMAN Perfect INDIA KNIGHT Beautiful JESSIE BURTON Witty and sharp DAVID NICHOLLS 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. Gorgeous . . . I could not recommend it more PANDORA SYKES Remarkable . . . Small Pleasures is no small pleasure THE TIMES Irresistible . . . wry, perceptive and quietly devastating MAIL ON SUNDAY