Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers

1950s London is the setting for Small Pleasures and features Jean, a journalist, who normally writes a column on household tips, but gets wind of the highly unusual story of a woman who believes her daughter to be the result of an immaculate conception. She receives her editor’s permission to investigate the implausible.

This is a story about relationships – maternal, familial, and romantic – and connections, the small pleasures that we sometimes take for granted. I really enjoyed the sense of place and period of the novel. I did not expect the final twist.

Recommended by Gwen