Small Pleasures

A Novel

By: Clare Chambers

Narrated by: Karen Cass

In the best tradition of Tessa Hadley, Kazuo Ishiguro, and Ann Patchett—an astonishing, keenly observed period piece about an ordinary British woman in the 1950s whose dutiful life takes a sudden turn into a pitched battle between propriety and unexpected passion.

""With wit and dry humor...quietly affecting in unexpected ways. Chambers' language is beautiful, achieving what only the most skilled writers can: big pleasure wrought from small details.""--The New York Times

LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION

1957: Jean Swinney is a feature writer on a local paper in the southeast suburbs of London. Clever but with limited career opportunities and on the brink of forty, Jean lives a dreary existence that includes caring for her demanding widowed mother, who rarely leaves the house. It’s a small life with little joy and no likelihood of escape.

That all changes when a young woman, Gretchen Tilbury, contacts the paper to claim that her daughter is the result of a virgin birth. Jean seizes onto the bizarre story and sets out to discover whether Gretchen is a miracle or a fraud. But the more Jean investigates, the more her life becomes strangely (and not unpleasantly) intertwined with that of the Tilburys, including Gretchen’s gentle and thoughtful husband Howard, who mostly believes his wife, and their quirky and charming daughter Margaret, who becomes a sort of surrogate child for Jean. Gretchen, too, becomes a much-needed friend in an otherwise empty social life.

Jean cannot bring herself to discard what seems like her one chance at happiness, even as the story that she is researching starts to send dark ripples across all their lives…with unimaginable consequences.

Both a mystery and a love story, Small Pleasures is a literary tour-de-force in the style of The Remains of the Day, about conflict between personal fulfillment and duty; a novel that celebrates the beauty and potential for joy in all things plain and unfashionable.

The virgin birth ( found that character to be into herself at times)

The ending was too real and cruel. After so much drama. The ending was hard.

Wonderful story telling and fabulous narration

A great story firmly rooted in the details of every day people and their lives. Poignant, gentle touch of humor and full of grace and human foibles

Great writing, great characters but..

The train incident didn’t need to be tied into the virgin birth story. I was enjoying this story so much, but then was left disheartened. Sometimes a sad ending makes sense, but this one just felt cruel and unnecessary. I suppose it was connecting two incidents in history that were close together in the same locale - still unnecessary.

Fantastic captivating story …

Absolutely loved this book…such an original plot and the narrator really bought the characters to life. The descriptions of life in London in the 1950s with all the domestic details are super interesting too. Really worth a listen.

Intriguing question

Lovable characters, interesting 1950s Science, moral dilemmas, twists and turns make this an enjoyable read.