Reasons to be Cheerful: Winner of the 2019 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction

Description

A brilliantly funny and heartbreaking story of growing up and finding the independence you might not actually want . . . Teenager Lizzie Vogel has a new job as a dental assistant. This is not as glamorous as it sounds. At least it means mostly getting away from her alcoholic, nymphomaniacal, novel-writing mother. But, if Lizzie thinks being independent means sex with her boyfriend (he prefers bird-watching), strict boundaries (her boss keeps using her loo) or self-respect (surely only actual athletes get fungal foot infections?) she's still got a lot more growing up to do.

Nina Stibbe was born in Leicester. She is the author of two works of non-fiction - Love, Nina and An Almost Perfect Christmas - and three previous novels- Man at the Helm, Paradise Lodge, and Reasons to be Cheerful, which is the only novel to have won both the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction and the Comedy Women in Print Award. Love, Nina won Non-Fiction Book of the Year and was adapted by Nick Hornby into a BBC TV series. Nina Stibbe lives in Cornwall.

Pitch perfect vintage comedy * Guardian * Lives up to its title * Sunday Times * My friends, you will UTTERLY ADORE Nina Stibbe's latest novel Reasons To Be Cheerful . . .It is SO SO funny, charming, odd-in-the-best-way and gorgeously uplifting! A delight from start to finish -- Marian Keyes Stibbe's comedy probes what it means to become an adult, and how we form our financial, sexual, moral and political selves * Daily Telegraph * So dense with amusing detail that I thought about holding the book upside down to see if any extra funny bits might spill from the creases between the page * New York Times * I read all of Reasons To Be Cheerful last night in one GLORIOUS gulp and it's SUCH a joy - Nina Stibbe turns out more perfect, sharp, unique sentences than anyone else in the game. It just CARTWHEELS -- Caitlin Moran If you loved Adrian Mole you'll adore Lizzie Vogel . . . quirky and witty, it also packs an emotional punch * Sun * Comedy gold . . . Reasons To Be Cheerful is just the read you need right now, seamlessly weaving together the big themes of life with charm and warmth * Stylist * Reasons to be Cheerful's tone has been compared to Sue Townsend's but I could haul in Alan Bennett, Barbara Pym and even Jane Austen . . . she writes brilliantly * The Times * The true heir to Sue Townsend -- Caitlin Moran Full of comedy, but with moving themes of loss and grief, it's an utterly charming coming of age story. A reason to be cheerful indeed * Sunday Mirror * A joyfully meandering, episodic novel that probes what it means to become an adult * Daily Telegraph * Very few writers can find the delicate balance between heartbreak and hilarity like Nina Stibbe * Red Magazine * This made me laugh and broke my heart, it's a gorgeous, profound, tender book about growing up and discovering that other humans are charming, obnoxious, enlightening and odd. I think Stibbe is one of the all time greats -- Daisy Buchanan Funny, charming, odd-in-the-best-way and gorgeously uplifting! A delight from start to finish -- Marian Keyes 'Nina Stibbe is an author of such effortless wit that she could turn a shopping list into a bestseller' -- Isabelle Broom * Women and Home * Loved it! I so love Lizzie. She is brave and kind and funny and totally original . . . I couldn't have liked it more (as I think Noel Coward said.) -- Katie Fforde A wonderfully funny novel . . . Nina Stibbe is still on sparkling form. * Oldie * There's a strong Sue Townsend/Alan Bennett flavour to it all . . . funny and sweet * Daily Mail * An idiosyncratic, bittersweet coming-of-age tale that certainly justifies its title * Kirkus *