Book Review: Small Pleasures

Never before had she considered that all these experiences that had nearly demolished her had built her into something better

Now I am mad. Mad at this book. Mostly by the ending. I wanted to scream, in fact I kinda did at 1 am as it turned the last page I went ‘WHAATTTTTT”. Now I’m not saying that this book is a bad one, on the contrary it was very good, beautifully written, and full of hope and grace for the little things in life. Dear reader, let’s be honest, occasionally we all need a little hope in our lives. HOWEVER, when I picked this book up, lord knows when, I wanted something happy. And indeed, there are moments of blissful happiness, but it is short lived and becomes, on reflection of the plot, all the more devastating.

This is when I should probably give you vague outline of the book. Our main character, Jean, is a journalist for a small-time newspaper set in 1950’s Southeast London. Life is anything but exciting. She is envious of her sister for marrying and moving away to Kenya leaving her with her socially anxious, ailing, tyrannical elderly mother and Jean is 39, in those days, her chances of marriage: her own family were nil. There are no trips to see friends, weekends away, no love, nothing. Essentially life has become a monotonous routine of chopped liver and slightly suspect news columns on household tips. So, imagine her surprise, when a lady called Gretchen Tilbury writes to her paper saying her daughter was born of a virgin birth. Suffice to say Jean’s world is turned upside down; what was once dull and monotonous, suddenly has a new lease of life, everything seems shinny and new. But her mother remains a certain terrifying, haunting constant. But the unthinkable happens and happiness slowly creeps in by the name of Howard Tilbury.

I will not say more to the plot than that. That, dear reader is for me to know and you to discover. But the road that Jean takes is a devastating one, the investigation into the event of a virgin birth, draw out some unhappy circumstances, guilty secrets and, inevitable heartbreak. Now, that may seem obvious, but in this book, nothing is as ever as it seems. What seems perfect isn’t, what seems impossible isn’t and just when you think all hope is lost, there it is again. Jean Swinney may not have had the best of times and, her happy ending is left ambiguous; she is left with a frustrating old woman who seems to just be waiting around to die. But one of the best take-aways from this book is Jean’s reflections on ‘small pleasures’ like the piece of good chocolate at the end of a long day. This might seem sad, but occasionally it’s the little things.