The Miseducation of Evie Epworth: The Bestselling Richard & Judy Book Club Pick

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By the end I had tears of joy weeping down my face. To see all the women of the community gathered together for Evie was heart warming to say the least. Whilst she may not of had her mother there to support her she had every female role model possible to help guide and shape her into the woman she would become. 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 Bronte, 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. A sweet, fizzy sherbet dib-dab of a book - deliciously nostalgic, hugely funny and ultimately heartwarming. The perfect book for our times.’ Veronica Henry 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.

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? If Evie can rescue her bereaved father, Arthur, from Christine’s pink and over-perfumed clutches, and save the farmhouse from being sold off then maybe she can move on with her own life and finally work out exactly who it is she is meant to be. Selection panel review This is a superficial novel, full of stereotypes. None of the characters seemed believable and I didn't care for any of them. Everybody was quite annoying in fact! Matson Taylor doesn’t stop their though and he introduces us to a whole community to love. Mrs Scott-Pym was my favourite of the supporting characters. Her kind nature and motherly attitude towards Evie melted my heart. Evie had found a sanctuary in that house and you could feel the love between these two characters. As much as Evie helped Mrs Scott-Pym I also felt the older woman learnt a thing or two from Evie too. I didn’t live in Yorkshire or anywhere near but lots of things were still the same, unless you lived in London, but I didn’t go there until 1972. I did something in fashion like Caroline. It was still vastly different from our narrow-minded, parochial, suburban life in the Cotswolds. I had never heard of a lesbian when I was 10 years old, possibly not even at 16. Things were different in those days.Aptly named ‘The Miseducation of Evie Epworth’ I just wish I’d had the experiences Evie did at her age with such wonderland and warm people - not Christine though - the buxom, pink babydoll wearing step mother to be! I am thrilled to have spent a few days in the delightful company of Evie Epworth, the heroine of Matson Taylor's début novel, The Miseducation of Evie Epworth. What a hoot this novel turned out to be! Set in Yorkshire in 1962, sixteen-year-old, Adam Faith-loving, Evie lives with her widowed dad, Arthur, and Christine, a woman who is set on marrying him. Evie is not a fan, and thinks her father can do much better, and she also needs to decide what she wants to do with her own life now that she's finished school. What happens next is exceptionally compelling... The Miseducation of Evie Epworth is the first novel by British author, Matson Taylor. At sixteen and a half, Evie Epworth is faced with a decision: what to do with the rest of her life. There are plenty of suggestions (marry a farmer [Dad], do her A levels [best friend Margaret], work in a hair salon [Christine], marry a doctor [Mrs Swithenbank]). This is where she so misses having a mum. What I liked in this story was the past narrative of Evie's parents relationship. Here we got to see a different side to Arthur, the side that showed Evie's mother was his world. We have the chance for you to win 10 copies of this fantastic novel for your reading group! Please enter by Friday 14 August.

Now Christine is the one character in this book that I don’t think anyone likes. She is the gold digging villain of the story that you can’t help but want to see fail. She took the term evil step-mother and fully embodied it. The pleasure I felt when Evie was trying to rid her life of all things Christine was second to none and the dialogue between these two characters was written perfectly. Evie, our "heroine", is a 16 year old (who comes across as a 10 year old), the daughter of a farm owner, or "the naive father", who seemed besotted by a 22 year old, or "the evil step mother". The "perfect mother" died when Evie was just a baby and nobody ever told her anything about this maternal figure. As I read the book sometimes I had the feeling that the characters (family members, neighbours...) had just met!! And I could go on and on... There are some funny situations described, but overall they don't contribute to the plot or the main storyline. An absolutely stunning, first class debut - please please Matson Taylor let us know how Evie gets on in her new chapter of her life, she now feels like a lifelong friend (I’m already missing her) and with gorgeous Caroline by her side, the world is her oyster! I'm not sure how much more I can rave about this book other than to comment on Taylor's use of humour and irony throughout. Of course (on a more serious note) there is an underlying theme about loss and grief, about the way we deal with both and the destructiveness of trying to bury them. It is the summer of 1962 and sixteen-year-old Evie Epworth stands on the cusp of womanhood. But what kind of a woman will she be?

We then learn the reason she's flying on her milk-delivery round is because she's borrowed her father's pride and joy, his MG. Which she's not supposed to drive. And the reason she's borrowed it is because she and her friend celebrated their O levels by getting drunk on a mix of spirits Evie pilfered from her father's drinks cabinet the night before and she woke late and hungover for her milk-delivery. 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. Sixteen-year-old Evie Epworth stands on the cusp of womanhood. But what kind of a woman will she become? Written as a diary from Evie's point of view, this is a wonderful coming of age story, intelligently and delightfully written, infused with humour and original and wonderful characters. As a 60s teenager growing up on a farm, Evie is fresh and naive with an unrestrained zest for life and a character to cheer on as she strives towards her future. Highly recommended!