Synopsis
Everyone hates the perfect family. So you'll love the Battles.
Mo is about to hit the big 50, and some uncomfortable truths are becoming quite apparent:
She doesn't understand either of her teenage kids, which as a child psychologist, is fairly embarrassing.
She has become entirely grey. Inside, and out.
Her face has surrendered and is frightening children.
Dora is about to hit the big 18 . . . and about to hit anyone who annoys her, especially her precocious younger brother Peter who has a chronic Oscar Wilde fixation.
Then there's Dad . . . who's just, well, dad.
A TINY BIT MARVELLOUS is the story of a modern family all living in their own separate bubbles lurching towards meltdown. It is for anyone who has ever shared a home with that weird group of strangers we call relations.
Oh and there's a dog. Called Poo.
» Read the first pages of A Tiny Bit Marvellous by downloading the Penguin Taster here
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A Tiny Bit Marvellous book trailer
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Reviews
Customer Review: 26 July 2011
Reviewer: Annie from MK
'Dear Dawn I know you don''t read reviews, but hope someone passes this on, coz I just had to say how much I enjoyed reading this. I am 50 this year, and oh deary me, how many of things (apart from Noel) have I done; I have the mad coat (the kidz won''t been seen out with me in it), also caused by seeing this fat, old woman in a shop window and realising its me! Now only slightly thinner, but my hair is pillar-box red with a purple fringe, so no disappearing for me. I have three daughters; 20 at Uni and knows best, twins of 14 who REALLY know best, ''coz like I''m SOOO stoopid!!'' Oh this book just made me larf and larf. The girls (bless them) bought it for me y''day for my holiday next week, started it last night and just kept on reading it till I''ve finished it. Roll on No2 soon, PLEASE! I can so hear you''re voice in it, oooo audio book .... when??? Thanks for making me larf and cry and know that I am not invisible... One thing I do hope you''re wrong on - first breast screening tomorrow and boy not looking forward to that!!! Loving your work Lady, Annie from MK, the city of roundabouts and in the middle. '
» Submit a reviewCritic Review:
Galaxy National Book Awards's Specsaver Popular Fiction Book of the Year
'In her debut novel, Dawn French has taken her gift for comedy and translated it to the page to bring us a family teetering on the edge ... hilarious,' Jane Clinton, Daily Express
'You'll laugh out loud from the first page,' Natasha Harding, The Sun
'Dawn's own witty turns of phrase fit easily into the mouths of her characters. If you enjoy watching her on screen, you'll enjoy reading this ... enriching, funny novel...' Rachel Johnson, The Mail on Sunday
'Dawn's own witty turns of phrase fit easily into the mouths of her characters. If you enjoy watching her on screen, you'll enjoy reading this,' News of the World
'[Her] status as a comedy icon has been solidified by her debut novel,' The Sunday Times
'French writes astutely and movingly on the peaks, troughs and further troughs of mother-daughter relationships ... in a book that bodes well for her future as a novelist,' Ed Potton, Saturday Review
'She relates the adventures of her dysfunctional but lovable family with aplomb. A sunny, summer holiday read,' Belfast Telegraph Morning
'Dawn French's hilarious fiction debut,' Daily Express
More
Dawn French’s Five Favourite Books
- Decline and Fall (Evelyn Waugh): A very funny study of British manners.
- Any Human Heart (William Boyd): A huge panoramic investigation of one man's life, how he affects so many other people and what he learns on the journey.
- To Esme in Love and Squalor (J.D. Salinger): A story that I read and absolutely loved as a teenager and that has always stayed with me.
- Puckoon (Spike Milligan): Absolutely hilarious. The author breaks down the fourth wall by talking to and arguing with the characters in the book.
- The Hobbit (J.R.R .Tolkien): Because my uncle read it aloud to us as children
and we just adored it.
Product details
Format :
Paperback
ISBN: 9780141046341
Size : 129 x 198mm
Pages : 448
Published : 17 Jun 2011
Publisher : Penguin
Other formats for A Tiny Bit Marvellous:
» Paperback : £6.99
» Audio CD : £18.99
» ePub eBook: eBook : £4.99
» Downloadable Audio: Audiobook : £12.99
A Tiny Bit Marvellous
£7.99
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