SMALL PLEASURES by Clare Chambers

I started “Small Pleasures” with high expectations given it had been longlisted for the ‘Women’s Prize for Fiction’ this year.

Up until the final chapters it was a delight to closely follow Jean, a journalist who is contacted by a young woman, Gretchen, claiming that her daughter is the result of a virgin birth. The more Jean investigates this claim, the more her life becomes intertwined with Gretchen’s.

I was holding my breath throughout the novel as it was gradually unravelling facts that could finally lead to solving the pregnancy mystery. I also genuinely felt for Jean’s personal and unfortunate family situation, however, just when I felt I was approaching the truth, the book ended with a dramatic event that feels entirely disconnected from the original story line.

I don’t want to give any spoilers as it might as well be to someone else’s liking, but putting the ending aside, the book was moving, suspenseful and beautifully written.

“Small pleasures – the first cigarette of the day; a glass of sherry before Sunday lunch; a bar of chocolate parcelled out to last a week; a newly published library book, still pristine and untouched by other hands; the first hyacinths of spring; a neatly folded pile of ironing, smelling of summer; the garden under snow; an impulsive purchase of stationery for her drawer”