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Small Pleasures

Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction

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Small Pleasures

By: Clare Chambers
Narrated by: Karen Cass
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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 Family Life Fiction Friendship Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Romance Women's Fiction Mystery Detective Heartfelt Suspense
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Critic reviews

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.
Perfect.
Small lives, love and loneliness, wit and despair all wrapped in an unexpected mystery and placed in a perfectly-realised 50s setting. Effortless to read, but every sentence lingers in the mind.
This is one of the most tender, beautiful books I have ever read. Please, please order it now for July. I honestly don't want you to be without it. It is exquisite.
I've had about five people recommend this to me, which is quite rare... It's a novel about the last throw of the dice, the last chance perhaps of finding a life of happiness when you've had a struggle. The writing is beautiful. This is also the first novel Chambers has written for 10 years, which I find really inspiring. I think there's this discourse in our culture that you've got to have everything done in your first book ... But Chambers has been away for 10 years and she's come back with this absolute humdinger. It's just so nice to read a book by someone who's so confident with their talent. I'm glad she's having this renaissance.
Quietly remarkable... Small Pleasures is no small pleasure. (Andrew Billen)
Small Pleasures is an almost flawlessly written tale of genuine, grown-up romantic anguish. Written in prose that is clipped as closely as suburban hedges, this is a book about seemingly mild people concealing turbulent feelings... one of the great strengths of the book is its tender, atmospheric descriptions of England: wet leaves, misted windows, the "melancholy sense of approaching dusk". Small Pleasures succeeds in creating one of those enclosed fictional worlds that, however desolate, has its own rules, its own flavour and its own charm. (Johanna Thomas-Corr)
There's compassion and quiet humour to be found in this tale of a putative virgin birth in postwar suburban London...
Chambers's eye for drab, undemonstrative details achieves a Larkin-esque lucidity. (Alfred Hickling)
An irresistible novel - wry, perceptive and quietly devastating. (Hephzibah Anderson)
Small Pleasures is no twee romance, but a quietly compelling novel of duty and desire. (Francesca Carington)
Wonderful.
A wonderful novel. I loved it.
Miraculous.
A beautiful and moving read set in 1950s suburbia that'll be on bookseller tables across the land this summer (Francesca Brown)
This is a dazzling, exquisitely written story of how happiness and even love can find us when we least expect it. (Sarra Manning)
There are small pleasures aplenty in Clare Chambers' quietly observed, 1950s-set story . . . Chambers' novel combines a startling storyline with an engagingly nuanced portrait of post-war suburban femininity (Claire Allfree)
A stunning novel to steal your heart.
All stars
Most relevant
I loved this gentle, compassionate story with a heart-stopping end which I won't spoil. Clare Chambers has done careful research on the late 1950s when the novel is set with details of relationships, the lives of women, the food, jobs, trains, clothes etc meticulously woven into a completely successful re-creation of that time which she herself is too young to have experienced as an adult. It's a great achievement.

The stories are cleverly woven together. Jean is near enough 40, living with her tiresome, dependent, querulous mother who dominates her daughter's life. Jean works for a newspaper mainly churning out recipes and household economy hints but is asked to investigate the story of a woman called Gretchen who claims that her 10year-old daughter Margaret was the result of a virgin birth. Jean and Gretchen become unlikely friends, along with little Margaret for whom Jean buys a rabbit. Gretchen's husband Harold, a quiet modest man, accepts Margaret as a daughter, and he too becomes a significant friend and Jean learns the true state of his marriage.

As time passes. Jean and Harold are in love and it seems that life could blossom for them both even if there are obstacles to overcome. This love is detailed with infinite tenderness and compassion as the plot become increasingly complex and we never know quite what will happen - and certainly never guess what does happen. Jean untangles many stories and finds the truth about the virgin birth...

I can't give more away for fear of spoiling one of the most enjoyable, highly original, heart-warming and heart-breaking new novels I've read (or listened to) for a long while. It's also read with exactly the right tone which enriches the story.

Just download it and bury all your worries as you listen, entranced!

Poignant, thoughtful & beautifully crafted

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First of all I really like these bleak mid century tales of small lives eeked out. However, this story was marred by the very hamfisted narration. It’s a female narrator with odd disjointed intonation. At times it reminded me of one of those robot messages “you now have five options”. Not only that the narrator isn’t capable of doing a male voice and can only do one male voice so all male characters sounded strained and alike. I found this narration incredibly distracting.
The other beef I had with this book is the ***SPOILER ALERT tragic ending which pulls the rug from under your feet as a reader and for what purpose?. Really a depressing end. Don’t read this if you are feeling down.

Suburban mid century despair

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This story of a good woman, trapped by her circumstances and forced to lead a life of dull routine until her life is changed by an unusual letter, is what library readers a generation ago would have called a “good book”. Set as it is in the 1950s, the author’s fluent story-telling and skilled character creation would have enthralled readers of the time. They are qualities that work every bit as well now, although the ending is clearly more of this time. Here a good book becomes even more engaging when enhanced by the exemplary reading it gets in this audio book version.

A story well told

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Took a few chapters to get into but then the characters sprang to life. This was helped in no small way, by the excellent narration. in fact, without superb narration, it would not have been as good. Some slow parts were ushered through by the clear, believable characterisation. Enjoyable, but it is the narrator I will be following.

Slow start but then gripping

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I really wanted to know what would happen next! The characters are plausible and relatable: the suburban context familiar. There was a slight tension between the author's modern take on love and life and my understanding of 50's Britain but this really provided the intrigue.
The narration was a little distracting ; her male voices sounded like the giant in Jack and the Beanstalk but managed to get over that znd yo really enjoy this story.

Realistic characters and a fresh plot

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