‘One of the wisest and most versatile of our novelists’ CHRISTOPHER WORDSWORTH, GUARDIAN
‘So intelligent and clear-eyed that every page seems to peel another layer of pretence’ ISABEL QUIGLEY, FINANCIAL TIMES
‘Nina Bawden’s novels are self-perpetuating pleasures’ KIRKUS REVIEWS
‘Today, Tuesday, the day that Penelope has chosen to leave her husband, is the first really warm day of spring . . . ‘
Penelope has always done her best to be a good wife, a good mistress, a good mother – and a good magistrate. Today she is more conscious that usual of the thinness of the thread that distinguishes good from bad, the law-abiding from the criminal. Sitting in court, hearing a short, sad case of indecent exposure and a long, confused theft, she finds herself examining her own sex life – what would that sound like in court? – and her own actions and intentions. How would the court judge what she’s about to do this afternoon . . . ?
‘So intelligent and clear-eyed that every page seems to peel another layer of pretence’ ISABEL QUIGLEY, FINANCIAL TIMES
‘Nina Bawden’s novels are self-perpetuating pleasures’ KIRKUS REVIEWS
‘Today, Tuesday, the day that Penelope has chosen to leave her husband, is the first really warm day of spring . . . ‘
Penelope has always done her best to be a good wife, a good mistress, a good mother – and a good magistrate. Today she is more conscious that usual of the thinness of the thread that distinguishes good from bad, the law-abiding from the criminal. Sitting in court, hearing a short, sad case of indecent exposure and a long, confused theft, she finds herself examining her own sex life – what would that sound like in court? – and her own actions and intentions. How would the court judge what she’s about to do this afternoon . . . ?
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Reviews
Whether a little more so or a little less, Nina Bawden's novels are self-perpetuating pleasures and among the few which deal gently with people, real people, and the fallibility of personal relationships
One of the wisest and most versatile of our novelists . . . an intriguing achievement
A neat, quietly serious novel, sharp about ironies both large and small
So intelligent and clear-eyed that every page seems to peel another layer of pretence, social custom or humbug from the surface of the life it describes
