The Queen of Bloody Everything

Description

"Small town, small minds," you say, as now-to-be-neighbours watch us through twitching nets as we drag dustbin bags and old crisp boxes from the back of Maudsley Mick's Transit. I stare back defiantly as I march up the path, ignoring the trail of tampons, playscripts, a potato masher that I leave in my wake. I am still, of course, happy to style myself as you. Because you - and Mick, and Toni, and the revolving cast of misfits, dropouts and almost-damned that bed down on borrowed floors - are all that I know. But that is about to change... Dido Sylvia Jones is six years and twenty seven days old when she moves from London squat to suburban Essex and promptly falls in love with Tom Trevelyan, the boy next door. It's not just him Dido falls for, though: it's also his precocious sister, Harry, and their fastidious, controlling mother, Angela. Because Angela is everything that Edie - Dido's own mother - is not. And the Trevelyans are exactly the kind of family Dido dreams of. Normal. Which is what Dido wants to be, more than anything else in the world. But normal is the very thing Edie can never be, as Dido - and the Trevelyans, including Dido's beloved Tom - will eventually learn the hard way. Like the very best families, Joanna Nadin's The Queen of Bloody Everything is funny, warm, tender and heart-breaking in equal measure. Part love story, it's ultimately about mothers and daughters; about realising, however long it takes, that family might be what you make it, but you can't change where you come from.

Joanna Nadin has previously written speeches for the Prime Minister and books for children and Young Adults. She is the author of the bestselling Rachel Riley diaries, the award-winning Penny Dreadful series and the Carnegie Prize-nominated Joe All Alone, among others.

Heartfelt . . . A wonderful example of Spangles Lit * Daily Mail * I bloody adored this perceptive, funny, unflinching novel about growing up, love, sex, mothers and everything -- Kate Eberlen, author of Miss You You're in for a treat with this one * Red Magazine * A bittersweet delight. Perfectly captures the awkwardness and longing of those who don't quite fit in -- Sarra Manning, author of After the Last Dance and House of Secrets An enchanting, heartfelt and nostalgic read * Prima Magazine * Funny, poignant and absolutely brilliant -- Rachael Lucas, author of Wildflower Bay Tender and with a wince-inducing evocation of adolescence, you'll fall for the awkward Dido as surely as she falls for the boy next door * Sunday Mirror * A must-read * Independent * Nostalgic, funny and charming * Stella magazine * A powerful, nostalgic, beautiful book, whose characters will retain a small place in your heart even after you finished it -- Ronnie Turner A lovely story of bewilderment and belonging * Sunday Express, S Magazine * A brilliant read * OK Magazine * I loved everything about this book. The writing, the characters, the details through the decades and the story of a girl, Dido, who just wants to fit in * Secret Library Book Blog * Cleverly crafted and beautifully written, this is a story to lose yourself in * The People * Don't miss! * Best Magazine * A captivating story throughout . . . Charmingly nostalgic . . . an essential and important read * Literature Works * Achingly romantic and painfully real, one of the best accounts of the mother-daughter bond that I have ever read -- Ruth Ware Such a lovely read . . . An amazing story * Essex life *