The humour was spot on, the descriptions were so detailed, the dialogue was wonderful and I couldn’t put this book down. It’s a guaranteed feel good book and I would 100% recommend to everyone who loves character driven books. Matson Taylor grew up in Yorkshire but now lives in London. He is a design historian and works at the V&A museum, where he teaches on the History of Design programme and spends a lot of time trying to convince people that the luxury goods industry helped win the Second World War. He wrote a chapter on Edward Molyneux, inventor of the flapper dress, for the V&A’s London Couture book and has helped develop a number of projects for TV and radio. He also works at Imperial College, helping scientists communicate very complicated things in a reasonably simple way. I loved the characterisation, as each of the characters were bursting with vitality and so very unique in their own way. It hasn’t helped my phobia, but it made me laugh and I know I won’t forget “that scene” in a long time.

A sweet, fizzy sherbet dib-dab of a book - deliciously nostalgic, hugely funny and ultimately heartwarming. The perfect book for our times.’ Veronica Henry

Comments

What a charming, delightful, gem of a read! I loved Evie and everything about her. From the witty sarcasm to the kindest heart it is hard not to fall in love with our young protagonist. As she’s about to embark on womanhood and figuring out what to do with her life her world is turned upside down by the arrival of Christine. Up until now, Evie’s life has been nothing special: a patchwork of school, Guides, cows, lost mothers, lacrosse and village fetes. But, inspired by her idols (Charlotte Brontë, Shirley MacLaine, the Queen), she dreams of a world far away from rural East Yorkshire, a world of glamour lived under the bright lights of London (or Leeds). Standing in the way of these dreams, though, is Christine, Evie’s soon-to-be stepmother, a manipulative and money-grubbing schemer who is lining Evie up for a life of shampoo-and-set drudgery at the stinky local salon.

I read this via The Pigeonhole over the course of ten days and in ten daily installments. Every day I finished one stave I wanted more and more. I was also approved for a copy via Netgalley, but managed to control my impulse to rush on ahead as the community reading on The Pigeonhole is such a great experience. Planning to buy The Miseducation of Evie Epworth for your group? Buy books from Hive and support The Reading Agency and local bookshops at no extra cost to you. The Miseducation of Evie Epworth is a charming debut from Matson Taylor, featuring sixteen-year-old Evie in the heart of the Yorkshire countryside during the 1906s. This book delivered everything I love: quirky characters, zippy one-liners, heartfelt relationships, and real-life emotional struggle blended with humorous, light-hearted moments. Though perhaps I need to throw an asterisk on “humorous” because we’re talking dry, witty British humor here, and that’s not going to make everyone laugh out loud. Given my British roots, though, I found it enjoyable and I think many others will as well. Evie’s first-person narrative is punctuated by short excerpts from the past (entitled interlude) which tell the story of not only Evie’s parents marriage and move to the farm but her mother’s friendship with Mrs Scott-Pym and in turn her fraught relationship with Caroline. Weaving past and present together adds depth to the story and keeps Evie’s mother, who died when she was one, ever present in the story. Alongside Evie’s own journey the major subplot centres on Mrs Scott-Pym coming to terms with, and accepting, her own daughter’s life choices and this was both subtly handled and an entirely unexpected source of joy. The most wonderful thing about this book is Evie's voice. Written by an adult male, I am in awe of how well he made me believe that I was reading the thoughts and words of a adolescent girl. On top of that, Evie is hilarious. She is sweet and caring but oh so very naive, yet weirdly astute despite her naivety. She cares deeply for her next door neighbour Mrs Scott-Pym, and as the book progresses she meets an array of characters who help her to figure out her identity, and the kind of woman she wants to grow up to be.

About the author

But one of the stand-out things for me about the book is how Matson has managed to capture perfectly the ‘playful’ (his word) voice of a 16 year old girl in the sixties. Hard enough for someone like me who was there!

I am Evie, sixteen and a half, as wise as a tree, as tall as time, the fastest milk bottle in East Yorkshire, hurtling towards Womanhood. p 7 As well as working at various universities and museums around the world, Matson has worked on Camden Market, appeared in an Italian TV commercial, and been a pronunciation coach for Catalan opera singers. The Miseducation of Evie Epworth is his first novel. If you like your stories with a dose of fun, quirky and full of family dramas then The Miseducation Of Evie Epworth is for you.Is it a decision we can or do make, I wondered. Do we decide who we are or who we become, or is our destiny predetermined? How can we influence that? The book was selected with the help of a panel of library staff from across the UK. Our readers loved The Miseducation of Evie Epworth – here are some of their comments: A great, pacy coming of age novel set in Yorkshire in the early 60s. Brilliant plot charts the ups and downs of the journey of a young girl from childhood to womenhood with a few twists and turns, lots of comedy and a plenty of drama thrown in. A really enjoyable read but also a serious exploration of the role of women in families and the workplace.” Oh this book is the perfect antidote to all of the horrendous things that seem to be on the news this year!