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Sue Clark
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Note to Boy Paperback – July 23, 2020

by Sue Clark (Author)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 25 ratings
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*** NOTE TO BOY - Runner-Up 2021 PenCraft Book Awards - Fiction - Humor ***
 
Eloise is an erratic, faded fashionista. Bradley is a glum but wily teenager. In need of help to write her racy 1960s memoirs, the former 'shock frock' fashion guru tolerates his common ways. Unable to remember his name, she calls him Boy. Desperate to escape a brutal home life, he puts up with her bossiness and confusing notes. Both guard secrets. How did she lose her fame and fortune? What is he scheming - beyond getting his hands on her bank card? And just what's hidden in that mysterious locked room?
Previous page
  1. Print length
    280 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Unbound Digital
  4. Publication date
    July 23, 2020
  5. Dimensions
    7.72 x 1.38 x 5.08 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1789650933
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1789650938
  8. See all details
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The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A teenager becomes the scribe of a former fashion icon in this debut literary novel. Self-conscious 17-year-old Bradley McCreedy responds to an unusual job posting hung in the window of a newsagent's shop in London ... An unlikely friendship emerges, one that will pay dividends for both parties--at least so long as Bradley doesn't overreach and bring the whole thing crashing down.


"Clark is a remarkable ventriloquist, alternating from the working-class vernacular of Bradley to the posh theatricality of Eloise with each chapter. ... The characters are richly drawn, and readers will quickly become invested in the odd couple, as individuals and as friends. The story is a pleasure all the way through.


"A funny, immersive portrait of an unusual working relationship." - Kirkus Reviews

"Eloise is a tough-talking forgotten British fashion icon; Bradley is a melancholic, sneaky teenager.

"Eloise needs Bradley to help her write her memoirs; Bradley needs the money and is urgent to escape a difficult home life ... when both Eloise's and Bradley's worlds turn upside down - they find out just what friendship means and just how much they rely on each other!

"Note to Boy is a charming, hilarious story about an unlikely friendship that develops between different generations ... Eloise has a Miss Havisham-esque quality to her. Bradley (who is called Boy for most of the book) comes from a London council estate.

"... an exceptionally well written and highly humorous 'light' read that's perfect for your afternoon on the beach ... I highly recommend this clever book to anybody this summer - I'm sure you'll love it!" - The Gibraltar Magazine

About the Author

Alongside a career as a BBC radio and TV comedy scriptwriter, penning lines for some of the UK's top comedians, including Tracey Ullman, Lenny Henry and David Jason, Sue Clark has been a copywriter, PR, journalist, magazine editor, guidebook writer and was, briefly, paid to read books all day long for a film producer. Now she's doing what she's always wanted to do, write comic novels. NOTE TO BOY is the first.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Unbound Digital (July 23, 2020)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 280 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1789650933
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1789650938
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.7 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.72 x 1.38 x 5.08 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 25 ratings

About the author

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Sue Clark

Sue Clark

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A funny and uplifting story, A Novel Solution, Sue Clark’s second comic fiction, was published in 2024. Her first, Note to Boy, was published in 2020 and gained a Pencraft Award for humour. This followed a varied writing career as a BBC radio and TV comedy scriptwriter, journalist, copywriter, PR and editor.

Sue has also contributed tales to the short story anthologies, Taking Liberties and Order & Chaos.

Sue Clark believes no story, no matter how tragic isn’t enhanced by a small injection of comedy. And likewise, no story, no matter how comic, isn’t enriched by a little pathos. Her aim: to give the reader that winning combination of a good laugh, laced with a few tears. Heart and humour.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
25 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Gordon A. Long
5.0 out of 5 stars Best book I've reviewed in years. Completely off the wall.
Reviewed in the United States on October 18, 2020
Once I’ve said it's the best book I've reviewed, what more can I add? This has got to be the wackiest plotline going, a complete inside-out-and backwards on Pygmalion and My Fair Lady. It features two of the most unlikely characters that were ever jammed together in a book: a rough-and-tumble street urchin and a decayed wreck who used to be a high fashion influencer in the Carnaby Street days of the 60s.

Their unlikely parade through a tempestuous relationship and their battle against impossible odds is the kind of plotline that nobody would ever believe possible. Of course, the art of the writer is to involve us so deeply in the characters that we would dearly love for the impossible to be true. As a result, we are willing to believe that just about any dream can come true.

And so it does.

And that’s it. An entrancing and finely crafted excursion into a fantasy that will never happen to us. But we dearly wish it could.

If you happen to be the type of reader who likes your stories true to life and down to earth…hey, give yourself a break and try something else. You might be glad you did.
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Kat Cohen
4.0 out of 5 stars A fun book about an unlikely friendship
Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2021
One Sentence Summary: Eloise needs someone to write her memoirs and Bradley needs a job and thus sparks an unlikely friendship between a teen boy and a former fashion trendsetter who is still intent on getting her due.

Overall

Eloise Slaughter is a has-been in the world of fashion, though, in some circles, is still considered a legend. Reclusive, she now seeks someone to help her write her memoirs. Enter, Bradley, a teen with a rough handle on the English language and questionable motives, but also possessor of a reasonably good heart. I thought this book would be heartwarming, but it ended up feeling more like a business relationship even though it's easy to see they're fond of each other. In their own ways. Ultimately, Note to Boy doesn't have the most lovable characters, but the characterizations are incredibly strong and some of the best I've read.

Extended Thoughts

Eloise was a fashion icon, a trendsetter, back in the 1960s and 70s in London. Even though she was thwarted by a fashion rival time and again, she's still a legend, albeit one basically in hiding after the disaster of her last show. She still thinks of herself as a queen of fashion, so has started to dictate her memoirs. If she can only find someone who will work out reliably for her.

Bradley is a seventeen-year-old boy who needs a job, if only to escape his mother and older brother, who really don't care much for him. He sees Eloise's ad, and ends up with the job. His intentions aren't exactly pure, though a strange relationship is struck up between the two, one that can potentially forever change their lives.

Note to Boy is one of those books I decided to take a chance on. I'm not a big fan of general fiction, nor do I particularly enjoy friendships between one older and one much younger person. But something about Eloise and Bradly in the book description caught my eye and I thought it would be a fun, heartwarming story.

Well, I didn't find Note to Boy to be particularly heartwarming, but I did enjoy it, in a kind of complicated way.

Note to Boy is set in London. The story is told mostly alternatively by Eloise and Bradley. They belong to two different classes, and it really comes through marvelously through their chapters. Bradley is young, rough, and not exceptionally educated while Eloise received a high education and always thought herself better than everyone else, so tweaked herself into a polished woman, if a bit dramatic. I loved how they had such different and unique voices. Even if I stopped in the middle of a chapter, I had no problems remembering who was telling the story. They were clear and consistent, though I did love how Bradley's slowly shifted to reflected the effect Eloise had on him.

I loved everything about how Eloise and Bradley were characterized. Bradley isn't exactly pure, but he does care about Eloise. And, seriously, if he needs a house to clean, I'll invite him into mine, though I'll be sure to keep a close eye on him! Eloise was clearly living in the past, but I loved how smart she was. I found her character to be fascinating. But, while I adored their characterizations, I didn't actually like the characters. I couldn't help but think they were horrible people. But I loved that they were horrible people? Their characterizations were so spot on and some of the best I've ever read (I completely forgot there was an actual author behind this book, that's how clearly they came through), but I really, really did not like them.

My feelings about the story itself are about the same. I really enjoyed the back and forth in time and getting to see glimpses of the fashion world through Eloise's eyes. I loved the relationship that developed between Eloise and Bradley, even if it did feel more like a business relationship than a friendship. They were using each other, but it was easy to tell there was fondness between them. Still, I wanted to slap Bradley and few times and shake Eloise a bit, but she was clearly starting to lose her marbles throughout most of the story. I really enjoyed reading Eloise's memories, but they're not like flashbacks where the reader is taken back in time. It really is just Eloise telling her story. Her chapters read as though she's in the here and now telling a listener what she did and what happened to her. I really wanted the flashbacks that took me back in time, but I did really enjoy it all while actively reading this book.

Note to Boy is a really well-written story with some great characters. I loved that both Bradley and Eloise come into the story with past hurts and prejudices, but manage to work through them. I wasn't a big fan of the ending, but the characters were working in that direction the whole time. Whether they knew it or not, they were exactly what the other needed. While I expected Note to Boy to be heartwarming, I'm actually glad it wasn't. This was such a fun book to read, even if I didn't like the characters.

Thank you to Sue Clark for a review copy. All opinions expressed are my own.
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I. A. Matthews
5.0 out of 5 stars A hugely entertaining read for our times
Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2020
A fabulous read that weaves together the lives of two most unlikely characters, both eccentric, lonely and sad in their own way. Sue Clark has a way with words that make Eloise and Bradley both so likeable, that you end up rooting for them right from the start. The characters simply jump off the page and are totally convincing, even down to several cringeworthy and hilarious episodes. But what lies behind the humour is a commentary about the descent into old age and how society is so ready to turn its back on people who have no one close to care for them. Had it not been for Bradley, himself a social misfit, would Eloise have been able to mine her past with such devastating results? Clever stuff. I loved it!
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S. J. Main
4.0 out of 5 stars Good fictional tale
Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2021
Note to boy is a fictional tale about Eloise and Bradley. The two forecast a very interesting dynamic of a relationship. None of the characters mesh or sync well, and both are together for their own reason, which creates a compelling story. The secrets they keep from each other and the way they face them as it gets revealed. Both are young, and with that comes inexperience, which creates more clashes and drama causing the read to be intriguing until the end.
The literature was easy to read and understand. Everything about the book was interesting and intriguing to recite. At times I found the characters incapable of making the right decisions but then noticed that it was all part of the humor.

The cover design for the book was spot on. It really suited the content and made it appealing. The author has the potential to write good books.
I recommend this book to anyone who likes to read fiction.
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SC
4.0 out of 5 stars An ideal rainy-day read
Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2020
A fun, fast read, Note to Boy will definitely keep you entertained. I even laughed out loud in spots, something I didn't expect given that one of the two protagonists/narrators is an incontinent, not particularly pleasant old woman teetering on dementia. The two first-person voices are wonderfully distinct (hooray!). Characters evolve, grow, and learn some lessons, and while the endings are all tidy, they're not all happily ever after. It's an ideal beach read, commuter read, or rainy-day read.

Thank you, NetGalley and Unbound, for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
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Top reviews from other countries

Ivy Ngeow
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully entertaining and LOL touching glimpse into two London lives
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 11, 2020
Verified Purchase
Debut novel Note to Boy by the talented Sue Clark is full of witticisms (Jean Paul Goatee Beard, Kate Middleclass etc) that will stop you in your tracks. It is a book that will stay with you long after you have read it.. For those with a keen eye in fashion, the details will also bring you back to the vintage darling era and the Carnaby St hey day of London culture. Set in central London, it is the funny and moving relationship between a teenage boy who becomes the assistant and cleaner and errand boy to the octogenarian Eloise Slaughter who was a fashion doyenne in her youth. Conflicts develop as she wants non-stop attention and his company and Gypsy Creams and gin, while he just wants to get paid working for her. If you love London, you will love this book.
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Susan Allen
5.0 out of 5 stars Great characterisation
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 25, 2020
Verified Purchase
I read this book in three sittings - staying up until 3.30 to finish it because I had to know what happened to the two main characters. The author pulls off the difficult task of making the reader care - and I found myself thinking about those characters for several days after I'd finished the novel - they really stayed with me. It's a gently amusing novel - and it never descends into cruelty. I loved it.
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NSS944
5.0 out of 5 stars Note to Boy , this is a book that once you have started you will have to finish.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 11, 2021
Verified Purchase
Note to Boy , this is a book that once you have started you will have to finish.
Nice one Sue Clark !
My mum also enjoyed it.
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G
3.0 out of 5 stars Amusing story
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 18, 2021
Verified Purchase
This was a good read and I enjoyed it. Slightly put off by all the typos all the way through though. A light read, which is what we all need sometimes.
One person found this helpful
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Fiona Food Fan
5.0 out of 5 stars Definitely worth reading - funny, original and poignant
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 4, 2020
Verified Purchase
This is a great book; I didn't choose it as it was a book group selection, but I would definitely recommend it and will look out for more by this author.
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