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A Tiny Bit Marvellous

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

The hilarious No. 1 bestseller by comedian and author of Because of You and According to Yes, Dawn French.

Everyone hates the perfect family - so you'll love the Battles.

Meet Mo Battle, about to turn 50 and mum to two helpless, hormonal teenagers. There's 17-year-old daughter Dora who blames Mo for, like, EVERYTHING and Peter who believes he's quite simply as darling and marvellous as his hero Oscar Wilde. Somewhere, keeping quiet, is Dad, who's just, well . . . Dad.

However, Mo is having a crisis. She's about to do something unusually wild and selfish, which will leave the entire family teetering on the edge of a precipice.

Will the family fall?

Or will they, when it really matters, be there for each other?

A Tiny Bit Marvellous is the number one bestselling novel from one of Britain's favourite comic writers.

© Dawn French 2010 (P) Penguin Audio 2010

 Contemporary Contemporary Romance Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literature & Fiction Romance Women's Fiction Comedy Witty Funny Feel-Good

Critic reviews

Beautifully observed. Makes you laugh on every page
Hilarious. Chortle-out-loud turns of phrase, razor-sharp observations
Fresh, extremely funny
Has she cracked it with her first novel? Yes. Engaging from the first page
Really enjoyable and highly recommended. Dawn French is a wonderful writer - witty, wise and poignant
A hilarious and compelling read
All stars
Most relevant
I started the book a little apprehensively. I mean Dawn French is clearly a very funny lady, loved by millions and I guess moving those talents to a novel, was putting her reputation on the line.

No such fears. The book is excellent. It is broken down into manageable short chapters in a diary format, which make it a very easy listen. Flicking between the characters doesn't detract from you getting to understand them and I defy anyone not to relate to at least one of the members of the modern family. Mum's having a mid-life crisis, an eccentric son, a rebelious daughter addicted to Facebook and dad, somewhat the quiet one (but not for long!)

If you are a middle-aged mum with a teenage daughter I suspect you are going to be reflecting on how true Mo's life is, with all the crisis management and day to day worries she faces.

It's wonderful to hear Dawn reading the book too and expressing her own characters. I can't help wonder how much of it she bases on her own experiences. The book comes together beautifully for the finale.

Dawn French, take a bow.

Indeed a whole lot of marvellous

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I didn't have high hopes for this one, you always worry that celebrities get their books published just because of their names. However, I really enjoyed it from the beginning. I think having Dawn French reading it probably made it more enjoyable than it would otherwise be. Nothing heavy, it's just a downright enjoyable listen.

Enjoyed this more than I expected

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Even though I guessed how this story would end fairly early on, I couldn't help but want more. It was a great listen and Dawn reads each chapter in the style of the character she is portraying. A great book and very easy to listen to.

Easty listening

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loved every single word .... how it resonated with my muddled aged life!!!
that is all

love love love

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I really enjoyed listening to this story. It was funny and very enjoyable. I liked that it was Dawn French reading it, because you hear the story as she intended it to be heard, which is nice. Plus her enthusiastic storytelling makes the story come alive. Not sure about the Kiwi accent though!! Overall a big thumbs up

a great listen

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