Small Pleasures Novel By Clare Chambers PDF Free Download, Overview, Summary, Reviews, Videos, Quotes, Get Book, Q&a, More By Author.
Small Pleasures Book PDF Free Download
1957, South-east Suburbs Of London.
Jean Swinney Is A Feature Writer On A Local Paper, Disappointed In Love And — On The Brink Of Forty — Living A Limited Existence With Her Truculent Mother: A Small Life From Which There Is No Likelihood Of Escape.
When A Young Swiss 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. But The More Jean Investigates, The More Her Life Becomes Strangely (And Not Unpleasantly) Intertwined With That Of The Tilburys: Gretchen Is Now A Friend, And Her Quirky And Charming Daughter Margaret A Sort Of Surrogate Child. And Jean Doesn’t Mean To Fall In Love With Gretchen’s Husband, Howard, But Howard Surprises Her With His Dry Wit, His Intelligence And His Kindness — And When She Does Fall, She Falls Hard.
But He Is Married, And To Her Friend — Who Is Also The Subject Of The Story She Is Researching For The Newspaper, A Story That Increasingly Seems To Be Causing Dark Ripples Across All Their Lives. And Yet Jean Cannot Bring Herself To Discard The Chance Of Finally Having A Taste Of Happiness…
But There Will Be A Price To Pay, And It Will Be Unbearable.
Clare Chambers Was Born On 1966 In In Croydon, Surrey, England, Uk, Daughter Of English Teachers. She Attended A School In Croydon. At 16, She Met Peter, Her Future Husband, A Teacher 14 Years Old Than Her. She Read English At Oxford. The Marriage Moved To New Zealand, Where She Wrote Her First Novel. She Now Lives In Kent With Her Husband And Young Family. In 1999, Her Novel Learning To Swim Won The Romantic Novel Of The Year Award By The Romantic Novelists’ Association.
Such A Tender, Beautiful, And Light Novel… Until The End. Small Pleasures Had The Most Absurd (And Unnecessary??) Ending To A Book I’ve Ever Read — It Was Almost As If The Final Chapter Belonged To An Entirely Different Novel Altogether. If The Significance Of The Final Chapter Has To Be Explained In An Afterword, Maybe It Wasn’t Very Well Thought-out In The First Instance. Regardless, I Still Think This Is An Enjoyable Story And Worth Reading, As The Prose And Descriptions Of Ordinary, Domestic Life Are Exquisite.
If You Hate The Ending Of A Novel After Really Enjoying The Majority Of The Story Is It Still A Successful Reading Experience? It’s A Tricky Question And One I’ve Been Left Pondering After Finishing “small Pleasures”. Set In The Late 1950s It Follows Jean, A Journalist At A Local Paper In The Suburbs Of London. Though She’s Around 40 Years Old She Still Lives With Her Mother Whose Cantankerous And Overbearing Manner Leaves Little Room For Jean To Have A Personal Life.
Jean Is Assigned To Write A Feature About Gretchen, A Swiss Woman Who Claims Her Daughter Is The Result Of A Virgin Birth. During The Process Of Researching This Curious Case Jean Gradually Develops A Personal Relationship With Gretchen, Her Husband Howard And Their Daughter Margaret. The Author Skilfully Evokes The Atmosphere Of Mid-20th Century England Alongside A Compelling Mystery Which Plays Out In Such An Interesting Way.
It’s A Delight How Jean’s Fluffier News Pieces About Domestic Matters Are Interspersed Throughout The Novel. Most Of All, I Grew To Feel Strongly Emotionally Involved With Jean Whose Quiet But Painful Loneliness Is Assuaged By Her Growing Affection For This Family.
It’s Also Very Intriguing How This Personal Story Intertwines With The Facts Jean Uncovers Surrounding Margaret’s Birth. But The Novel Ends With A Dramatic Event Which Feels Entirely Disconnected From This Gentle And Beautifully Immerse Tale And It’s Left Me Feeling Betrayed.
“Small Pleasures” By Clare Chambers Is A Story About How Quickly And Unexpectedly Life Can Change.
“The Journey Into Love Was So Effortless And Graceful; The Journey Out Such A Long And Labored Climb.” ~ Jean Swinney
It’s 1957 In London’s South-east Suburbs Where 39-year-old Jean Swinney Lives With Her Mother. She’s A Feature Writer With The North Kent Echo, A Local Newspaper. She’s Also Unlucky At Love And Has What One Might Refer To As A Liminal Life. Day After Day, All Things In Jean’s Life Remains The Same.
Change May Be In The Air Though. Gretchen Tilbury Has Written A Letter To The Editor Of The North Kent Echo In Response To A Small Article Buried Deep Within The Pages Concerning Parthenogenesis Titled, “Men No Longer Needed For Reproduction!”
Gretchen Claims Her 10 Year Old Daughter, Margaret To Be Born Without The Involvement Of A Man. The Paper Is Interested In Running A Story About This And Jean, Being The Only Woman At The Table, Is Assigned With The Challenge Of Investigating Gretchen’s Claim Of A Virgin Birth.
The Further The Investigation Progresses The Deeper Jean Becomes Entwined In The Lives Of The Tilbury Family. Her Personal Life Begins To Feel Interesting And Exciting, And Jean Feels Different And Happier. She’s Changing!
But Is Jean Truly Prepared For The Relationships She’s Creating With Gretchen, Margaret And Gretchen’s Husband, Howard? Will She Be Able To Cope With How These Changes May Play Out? Good Or Bad?
I Love The Character Of Jean! She’s Real And Painfully Human. She Deeply Cares For Gretchen And Her Family. She Embraces Them At The Same Time She Embraces Change. The Humorous Side Of This Character Is My Favorite But There Seems To Be Pain Lingering Deep Inside Of Her. This Character Has Been Written With Such Depth!
I Enjoyed This Story And Can Visualize These Relationships Taking Place In Mid-century-anywhere. The Writing Is Descriptive And Visual, Yet Simple. I Loved How The Author’s Writing Carried Me Through The Backstories And Then Into The Newness Of Each Relationship.
I Don’t Necessarily Like How This Story Ends But Isn’t That The Way Of Life? $hit Happens!
I Highly Recommend!
Thank You To Netgalley, William Morrow And Custom House, And Author Clare Chambers For A Free Arc Of This Book. It Has Been An Honor To Give My Honest And Voluntary Review.
