About this ebook
'So charming' Marian Keyes
From the highly-acclaimed author of SMALL PLEASURES - winner of the 2022 British Book Awards Page-Turner
When aspiring novelist Christopher Flinders drops out of university to write his masterpiece (in between shifts as a fish delivery man and builder's mate), his family is sceptical.
But when he is taken up by the London editor Owen Goddard and his charming wife Diana it seems success is just around the corner. Christopher's life has so far been rather short of charm - growing up in an unlovely suburb, with unambitious parents and a semi-vagrant brother - and he is captivated by his generous and cultured mentors.
However, on the brink of realising his dream, Christopher makes a desperate misjudgement which results in disaster for all involved. Shattered, he withdraws from London and buries himself in rural Yorkshire, embracing a career and a private life marked by mediocrity.
Twenty years on, a young academic researching into Owen Goddard seeks him out, and Christopher is forced to exhume his past, setting him on a path to a life-changing discovery.
Praise for Clare Chambers:
'Thoroughly enjoyable and very clever' Sunday Express
'Effortless to read, but every sentence lingers in the mind' Lissa Evans on Small Pleasures
'Beautifully observed and achingly funny' Woman & Home
'Chambers' eye for undemonstrative details achieves a Larkin-esque lucidity' Guardian on Small Pleasures
'Reminds us of the rare pleasure that an intelligent tale with a happy ending brings' The Sunday Times
From the highly-acclaimed author of SMALL PLEASURES - winner of the 2022 British Book Awards Page-Turner
When aspiring novelist Christopher Flinders drops out of university to write his masterpiece (in between shifts as a fish delivery man and builder's mate), his family is sceptical.
But when he is taken up by the London editor Owen Goddard and his charming wife Diana it seems success is just around the corner. Christopher's life has so far been rather short of charm - growing up in an unlovely suburb, with unambitious parents and a semi-vagrant brother - and he is captivated by his generous and cultured mentors.
However, on the brink of realising his dream, Christopher makes a desperate misjudgement which results in disaster for all involved. Shattered, he withdraws from London and buries himself in rural Yorkshire, embracing a career and a private life marked by mediocrity.
Twenty years on, a young academic researching into Owen Goddard seeks him out, and Christopher is forced to exhume his past, setting him on a path to a life-changing discovery.
Praise for Clare Chambers:
'Thoroughly enjoyable and very clever' Sunday Express
'Effortless to read, but every sentence lingers in the mind' Lissa Evans on Small Pleasures
'Beautifully observed and achingly funny' Woman & Home
'Chambers' eye for undemonstrative details achieves a Larkin-esque lucidity' Guardian on Small Pleasures
'Reminds us of the rare pleasure that an intelligent tale with a happy ending brings' The Sunday Times
Ratings and reviews
5.0
1 review
Lisa Maher
- Flag inappropriate
January 15, 2023
excellent
About the author
Clare Chambers was born in Croydon in 1966 and read English at Oxford. She wrote her first novel, Uncertain Terms, during a year in New Zealand, after which she worked as an editor for a London publisher. She is also the author of In A Good Light, Back Trouble, A Dry Spell and Learning to Swim, which won the 1999 Parker Romantic Novel of the Year award. She lives in Kent with her husband and three children.
Reading information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.