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Small pleasures : a novel / Clare Chambers.

Chambers, Clare, (author.).

Summary:
In the best tradition of Ann Patchett, Kazuo Ishiguro and Tessa Hadley - an astonishing, keenly observed story of an ordinary British woman in the 1950s whose dutiful life takes a wholly unexpected turn into a struggle between propriety and passion. 1957: Jean Swinney is a features editor at 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. 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 lonely 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 captivating look at the conflict between personal fulfilment and duty; a novel that celebrates the beauty and potential for joy in all things plain and unfashionable. -- Provided by bookflap.

Record details

  • ISBN: 9780063094727
  • ISBN: 006309472X
  • Physical Description: 345 pages ; 24 cm
  • Edition: First U.S. edition.
  • Publisher: New York, NY : Custom House, [2021]

Content descriptions

General Note:
"Originally published in the United Kingdom in 2020 by Weidenfeld & Nicolson"--title page verso.
Subject: Women journalists > Fiction.
Parthenogenesis > Fiction.
Mothers and daughters > Fiction.
Interpersonal relations > Fiction.
England > Social life and customs > 20th century > Fiction.
Genre: Historical fiction.
Domestic fiction.
Novels.

Available copies

  • 17 of 18 copies available at SPARK Libraries.

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 18 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Abington Community Library FICTION CHAMBER (Text) 50687011749044 Adult Fiction Available -
Albright Memorial Library FICTION CHAMBER (Text) 50686016103892 Adult Fiction Available -
Altoona Area Public Library F CHA (Text) 33240004952639 Adult Fiction Available -
Dillsburg Area Public Library Adults CHA Fiction (Text) 34001001401866 Adult Area Available -
Emmaus Public Library FIC CHAMBERS, CLARE (Text) 36446002049834 Adult Fiction Available -
Exeter Community Library CHA (Text) 33249025310446 Fiction Checked Out 04/17/2024
Indian Valley Public Library Fiction Chambers (Text) 39427103656708 Fiction Room: Adult Fiction Available -
Lower Macungie Library FIC CHA (Text) 33400001530347 Adult Fiction Available -
Martin Library Adults CHA Fiction (Text) 33454005839725 Reading Room Balcony Available -
Memorial Library of Nazareth and Vicinity FIC CHA SMA 2021 (Text) 31001101363027 Adult Fiction Available -


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