This is the first book of this kind I ever read and I was initially unsure if I would enjoy it but it really doesn’t fall short in it’s reviews! ✨ I really enjoyed this book

With thanks to Netgalley and Orion Books for a digital copy of Small Pleasures. I have read and enjoyed Claire Chambers’ previous works and was delighted to have the opportunity to review Small pleasures. This is an absolutely delightful book, beautifully observed, laden with historical detail and carefully crafted storytelling. Jean lives with her elderly mother and works at a local newspaper- her life is small, unexciting and predictable. Her mother is petty and restricting, her household tasks repetitive and mundane. Her journalistic duties are equally dull as she incorporates household tips into her page and writes about local lives. Then a letter changes her life. Gretchen writes of her belief that she has experienced a virgin birth. The letter starts a chain of events which affect jean’s private and professional life, send her on an investigative journey and for the first time in her life she experiences love. I kept thinking of the film Brief Encounter when I read this - the evocation of post war life, a feeling of living in black and white, the gentleness of an emerging love affair, sipping tea and climbing trees for apples and in the middle of sunlight a sense of clouds gathering. A beautiful read.

This wise, witty and humane novel is really impressive. My mother would have been in her early thirties in 1957, so a little younger than Jean, and I cannot fault the period detail. The characterisation, especially Jean and Howard, is excellent. Highly recommended.

If you haven’t read anything by Clare Chambers, “Small Pleasures “ is the one to start with. I absolutely adored this book, everything from the characters, storyline, humour and the accurate details from history. It blends beautifully to create a wonderful and heartbreaking story about giving second chances when we are least expecting it and that Secrets sometimes should be kept hidden. I would ask all readers to pick a copy up and enjoy reading it, also don’t forget to have a go at baking the Spiced Apple Cake recipe given in the book. It is delicious. It has been a while since I was totally enchanted with a good story and great characters. If you like Maggie O’farrell ‘s books then you will love Clare Chambers . Enjoy it.

Couldn’t put it down read it in 48 hours. You get drawn in from the first chapter and need to know what will happen. Brilliant!