The Right Thing: a wonderfully funny, warm and moving novel that will sweep you away

Judy Astley

Dec 2010 · Transworld Digital · Narrated by Diana Bishop

About this audiobook

Brought to you by Penguin.


Let bestselling author Judy Astley sweep you away with this insightful and uplifting gem of a novel about the important things in life. Perfect for fans of Jenny Colgan, Milly Johnson and Trisha Ashley.

"Astley writes with humour and insight about the stresses and strains of family life" - THE TIMES
"A most absorbing and revealing read" - WOMAN'S WEEKLY
"Judy Astley's books are always a joy to read." -- ***** Reader review
"Judy Astley is a brilliant writer, you get lost in her books. They are all brilliant in my opinion." -- ***** Reader review

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HER LIFE SEEMS COMPLETE, BUT THERE'S ONE THING SHE HAS TO FIND...

Funerals are strange things. Kitty hadn't really wanted to go to this one - a old school friend she hadn't seen for years - and she hadn't bargained for the way it made her think of the past. In particular, it made her think of the baby she had given birth to when she was eighteen and been forced to give away for adoption. She'd called her Madeleine, and she remembered her every day, wondered what she was like, if she was happy.

Now, reminded of how cruelly short life can be, she has to see her - just to make sure she'd done the right thing.

Life has turned out pretty well for Kitty: a secure marriage, two teenage children and a house within sound and sight of the Cornish surf... But the hole left by that first baby isn't getting any smaller, and she decides to make the first, tentative steps towards filling it - although she, and all her family, are quite unprepared for what this means...


© Judy Astley 1999 (P) Penguin Audio 2010

Ratings and reviews

thought provoking and amusing

About the author

Judy Astley was frequently told off for day-dreaming at her drearily traditional school but has found it to be the ideal training for becoming a writer. There were several false-starts to her career: secretary at an all-male Oxford college (sacked for undisclosable reasons), at an airline (decided, after a crash and a hijacking, that she was safer elsewhere) and as a dress designer (quit before anyone noticed she was adapting Vogue patterns). She spent some years as a parent and as a painter before sensing that the day was approaching when she'd have to go out and get a Proper Job. With a nagging certainty that she was temperamentally unemployable, and desperate to avoid office coffee, having to wear tights every day and missing out on sunny days on Cornish beaches with her daughters, she wrote her first novel, Just for the Summer. She has now had eleven novels published by Black Swan.