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.

©2021 Clare Chambers (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers

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.

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

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.

Very unique!I

I loved this book! I loved her writing and the narrator was very good. I listened every chance I had!

Thoroughly enjoyable story and performance

it started out a bit slow but once you get into the meat of the story it was interesting and entertaining.

Draws you in

I love the cover of the book, it draws you in slowly. First you notice the pleasing rococo color palette (of Boucher and Fragonard) and how more and more you notice the beautiful simplicity of wild roses, and the celadon leaves and stem. The book draws you in the same way. First you notice the gentle and simple civility of the post-war Britain and then you notice more and more the beautiful intricacy of the heart that beats inside each human body, the secret hopes of deep passions that blow them one direction or another.

The beginning of the book offers a foreboding warning, but you sail along with the characters seeking the answer to the mystery, knowing it might bring happiness or pain. It doesn't matter because of the Buddhist truism "that which you are seeking is causing you to seek". We are each pulled by our desires; and it doesn't matter where it leads us or even if it will bring tragedy and disappointment because if the journey is rewarding, that is pleasurable reward enough.

Slowly drew me in.....

This was a surprisingly beautiful story that drew me in slowly and seduced me into loving it..... the character development was excellent, the storyline grew slowly and steadily and mysteriously, and the narration was wonderful..... however, I think the author took a short cut to an ending that was abrupt and seemed inconsistent with the overall style of the book. I would have given it 5 stars but for the ending which seemed like a cheap way out.

Beautifully written

This is a beautifully written story. The author created a sympathy for each character I truly appreciated.
I suggest ending before last chapter and writing your own ending.

Interesting story

I am glad I didn’t let complaints about the ending stop me from buying this book. There is some complexity to the characters that makes it much more interesting than what it seems some people were expecting. I prefer this over neat and tidy.

Loved this story… except the ending

I absolutely loved this story, it was going to be on my top list for the year. I still think the characters are really well written and it’s a beautiful commentary on how complex and untidy life can be… that ending though. I don’t want to spoil anything but it’s so abrupt and really leaves you feeling a bit disappointed. So much feels unfinished and as a reader you feel a bit jilted. But overall the story is so good.