* * * WINNER OF THE 2014 NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS POPULAR NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR * * *
'I adored this book, and I could quote from it forever. It's real, odd, life-affirming, sharp, loving, and contains more than one reference to Arsenal FC' Nick Hornby,The Believer
'Adrian Mole meets Mary Poppins mashed up in literary north London . . . Enormous fun' Bookseller
'What a beady eye she has for domestic life, and how deliciously fresh and funny she is' Deborah Moggach, author of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Nina Stibbe's Love, Nina: Despatches from Family Life is the laugh-out-loud story of the trials and tribulations of a very particular family.
In the 1980s Nina Stibbe wrote letters home to her sister in Leicester describing her trials and triumphs as a nanny to a London family. There's a cat nobody likes, a visiting dog called Ted Hughes (Ted for short) and suppertime visits from a local playwright. Not to mention the two boys, their favourite football teams, and rude words, a very broad-minded mother and assorted nice chairs.
From the mystery of the unpaid milk bill and the avoidance of nuclear war to mealtime discussions on pie filler, the greats of English literature, swearing in German and sexually transmitted diseases, Love, Nina is a wonderful celebration of bad food, good company and the relative merits of Thomas Hardy and Enid Blyton.
'Breezy, sophisticated, hilarious, rude and aching with sweetness: Love, Nina might be the most charming book I've ever read' Maria Semple, author of 'Where'd You Go, Bernadette'
'Nina Stibbe is the funniest new writer to arrive in years. Love, Nina is her first book - a memoir so warm, so witty and so wise, it's like finding the friend you always deserved' Andrew O'Hagan
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Imprint: Penguin
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Published: 07/11/2013
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ISBN: 9780241965085
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Length: 352 Pages
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RRP: £8.99
Reviews
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I adored this book, and could quote from it forever. It's real, odd, life-affirming, sharp, loving, and contains more than one reference to Arsenal FC
Nick Hornby, The Believer
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Last year, we had Roger Mortimer's splendidly bufferish Dear Lupin: Letters to a Wayward Son. Love, Nina - funny, quirky, vivid and touching - is every bit its equal
Daily Mail (Book of the Week)
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I loved this book. What a beady eye she has for domestic life, and how deliciously fresh and funny she is - a real discovery.
Deborah Moggach, author of 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel'
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Breezy, sophisticated, hilarious, rude and aching with sweetness: Love, Nina might be the most charming book I've ever read
Maria Semple, author of 'Where’d You Go, Bernadette'
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Funny, warm, life-affirming and accutely well-observed, Love, Nina is a gift that will keep on giving . . . A hoot
Metro
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The snippets of dialogue and vingettes evoke the characters and atmosphere brilliantly . . . Funny, sharp
Evening Standard
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Even if Adrian Mole wrote about the Primrose Hill set, it wouldn't be as funny and absorbing as Love, Nina
Psychologies
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Like a 1980s Mary Poppins with a sense of humour
Stylist
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The funniest new writer to arrive in years
Andrew O'Hagan
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Adrian Mole meets Mary Poppins mashed up in literary north London . . . Enormous fun
Bookseller
