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Back Trouble

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

From the highly acclaimed author of Small Pleasures - longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2021

On the brink of 40, newly single with a failed business, Philip thought he'd reached an all-time low.

It only needed a discarded chip on a South London street to lay him literally flat. So, bedbound and bored, Philip naturally starts to write the story of his life.

But between the mundane catalogue of seaside holidays and bodged DIY, broken relationships and unspoken truths, more surprises are revealed, both comic and touching, than Philip or his family ever bargained for. Even, perhaps, a happy ending....

©2001 Clare Chambers (P)2021 Penguin Audio Coming of Age Fiction Genre Fiction Literature & Fiction Comedy

Critic reviews

"Smart, astute and very funny." (Daily Mail)

"Chambers' eye for undemonstrative details achieves a Larkin-esque lucidity." (Guardian)

"A funny and moving story with a great deal of style." (Daily Express)
All stars
Most relevant
Great story telling and well narrated. Captured the essence of London life in the 1980s very well

Beautifully observed

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I really enjoyed this book and read most of the others by this author. They are so real life, so honest and so true and so appealing . Narration really good .

Real life in a book

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