This is one of those "small" stories, in that nothing much actually happens but I was totally gripped by the characters and their thoughts and motivations. Anyone who has had a difficult relationship with a close relative (hands up, everyone!) will be absorbed by this mother and daughter and their attempts to understand each other.
'What a phenomenal ear she has, and how remorselessly funny she is - My Phantoms is unmissably good' Kevin Barry, author of Night Boat to Tangier
Helen Grant has always been a mystery to her daughter. A twice-divorced mother-of-two she has sought intimacy in all the wrong places. Her daughter Bridget sees her once a year and considers the problem contained. But as she looks back over their fractious relationship, she is forced to confront cruelties inflicted on both sides.
My Phantoms is an insightful and painfully funny account of a family strained to…
Often stories about female empowerment are about young women, but in this we meet - and grow to love - the feisty Pru, who is a woman of mature years. Dumped by her husband, she looks for ways to fill her time - and starts attending funerals in a stylish little black dress that she has bought in a charity shop. What could possibly go wrong? It sounds slight, but Pru is an engaging character and Moggach's comic touch is sure.
'I barked out loud. Not since Freud has sex been more in bed with death. She gets sharper and more mordant with age and about age. This page-turner is like the best wakes, it will make you feel hungry and alive' The Times
'She really is the Nora Ephron of North London' Clare Chambers, author of Small Pleasures
Pru is on her own. But then, so are plenty of other people. And while the loneliness can be overwhelming, surely she'll find a party somewhere?
Pru's husband has walked out, leaving her alone to contemplate her future. She's missing not so…
I usually avoid war stories as I find them unnerving, but this had such good reviews that I made an exception - and I am glad I did. It is more of a love story than a war story, as we follow Henry Gaunt and Sidney Ellwood from school to the battlefield, in an era when their love for each other is seen as shameful and, not least, illegal. Their guilt and joy at being together are powerfully painted by the author, although the horrors of the First World War are equally vivid. It's a powerful mix.
After the horrors of the Napoleonic Wars, ex-soldier Gregory Hardiman is enjoying the quiet life of an ostler at a Cambridge coaching inn. But when the inn’s cook is found drowned in the river in the spring of 1825 and his distraught widow pleads for help, Gregory finds himself caught up in the unexpectedly murky world of college life in the town. He navigates uneasily between the public world of the coaching inn and the hidden life behind the high walls of the college. And when a new law requires the university to create a cadre of constables, will Gregory take on the challenge?
"Ostler" is the first in a planned series of five Cambridge Hardiman Mysteries. The second in the series - "Sizar" - will be published on 5 December 2024.
