I couldn’t put it down. Wonderfully written

I've read several of Clare Chambers' previous books and loved them. I've been hoping for a new book for some years and at last here it is! Small Pleasures is an absolute triumph. It's 1957. Jean Swinney is a reporter on the North Kent Echo. She's led a life of disappointment and stultifying routine, being the daughter required to stay with her mother and look after her. One day a letter is received at the newspaper from Gretchen Tilbury, claiming that her daughter was the product of a virgin birth. Jean meets the family and finds herself being drawn into their lives, seeing in them all the relationships she could have had. "She had spent a lifetime on the sidelines, observing, noting, learning; the little details that other people missed were not lost on her." This is a beautifully written book. Chambers' prose is exquisite, so observant and full of wry humour about the minutiae of life. It's the sort of book where I wanted to continually stop and mark passages that stood out. The characters are so well-drawn. I found Jean to be a frustrated, yet sympathetic character, and I particularly liked Howard, Gretchen's husband, a kind and thoughtful man. This isn't a book I was able to rush. I wanted to take my time and savour not only the story and the characterisations, but also the sheer quality of the writing and the way that the author writes about everyday events with beauty and perception. She takes us from stifling suburbia to smoggy London with ease, transporting the reader there as surely as if they were living through it themselves. A comparison has been made with the writing of Kate Atkinson and I think this is very accurate, but Chambers has a style all of her own which I delighted in. The ending left me with mixed feelings and if you read it you'll see why, but I haven't got a bad word to say about this wonderful read. It's an absolute delight.

This is by far the book I have enjoyed most this year. I loved that I never knew where the story was going but at the same time the characters were so real. There were so many plot twists that were clever. Ive reccomeded it to everyone I know.

There are few pleasures one might have in a life: a piece of chocolate, hot bath at the end of long day, tangerine shared with best friend. My was undoubtedly reading Clare Chambers “Small Pleasures”. Highly recommend.

I loved this book, it was so delicately written, and beautifully crafted. Not my usual type of read, but one I picked it up I couldn’t stop. It’s a mystery novel, but it’s interweaves with a romance, and details the duties people live out in their lives to keep others happy or the status quo. Thank you to the @ReadingAgency for this book win. If anyone wants to lose themselves in a gentle abd intriguing mystery, this is it.