Small Pleasures By Clare Chambers

A novel of unexpected second chances set in 1950s England.

LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2021

'A WORD-OF-MOUTH HIT' Evening Standard

'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'
David Nicholls

'Perfect'
India Knight

'Beautiful'
Jessie Burton

'Wonderful'
Richard Osman

'Miraculous'
Tracy Chevalier

'A wonderful novel. I loved it'
Nina Stibbe

'Effortless to read, but every sentence lingers in the mind'
Lissa Evans

'This is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. I honestly don't want you to be without it'
Lucy Mangan

'Gorgeous... If you're looking for something escapist and bittersweet, I could not recommend more'
Pandora Sykes

'Remarkable... Small Pleasures is no small pleasure'
The Times

'An irresistible novel - wry, perceptive and quietly devastating'
Mail on Sunday

'Chambers' eye for undemonstrative details achieves a Larkin-esque lucidity'
Guardian

'An almost flawlessly written tale of genuine, grown-up romantic anguish'
The Sunday Times

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.

But there will, inevitably, be a price to pay.

Book of the Year for: The Times, Daily Telegraph, Evening Standard, Daily Express, Metro, Spectator, Red Magazine and Good Housekeeping

About the Author

Clare Chamber's first job after reading English Literature at Hertford College, Oxford, was working for Diana Athill at Andre Deutsch. Clare's first novel UNCERTAIN TERMS was published by Diana at Andre Deutsch in 1992 and she is the author of five other novels.
SMALL PLEASURES, her first work of fiction in ten years, became a word-of-mouth hit on publication and was selected for BBC 2's 'Between the Covers' book club.