Small Pleasures

More about the book

1957: Jean Swinney works at a local paper in the London suburbs. Nearly forty, Jean lives a dreary existence that includes caring for her demanding widowed mother. It's a small life with little joy and and no likelihood of escape. When Gretchen Tilbury contacts the paper to claim that her daughter is the result of a virgin birth, Jean seizes onto the bizarre story. But the more Jean investigates, the more her life becomes intertwined with that of the Tilbury, including Gretchen's gentle and thoughtful husband, Howard, who mostly believes his wife, and their quirky and charming daughter, Margaret, Gretchen, too, becomes a much-needed friend in an otherwise lonely life. Jean cannot discard what seems like a chance at happiness, even as her investigation starts to send dark ripple across all thei lives...with unimaginable consequences