Bøker av Clare Chambers

With the emotional intelligence of Maggie O'Farrell and the witty observational skills of Kate Atkinson, this is a novel of unexpected second chances set in 1950s England.

Memories she had long chosen to forget begin to resurface. Memories of an eccentric childhood in a large and shabby house, where the children were very much left to fend for themselves within the loose boundaries of their parents' unorthodox values. A chaotic existence peopled by a rich collection of feckless 'guests'.

Abigail Jex never expected to see any of the Radley household again, and thought that she'd banished the ghost of her life with them, and the catastrophe that ended it, but thirteen years later, a chance encounter forces her to acknowledge that the spell is far from broken.

From the Women's Prize longlisted, British Book Award-winning, bestselling author of Small Pleasures, a new novel about love, family and the joy of freedom. 'I was worried this wouldn't be as good as the brilliant Small Pleasures, but it might be even better. Clare Chambers is a genius' INDIA KNIGHT'Wise, beautifully measured and as compelling as you want fiction to be' SUNDAY TIMES'A tender, absorbing novel . . . And it's just as good - if not better - than her last' INDEPENDENT'Shy Creatures confirms Clare Chambers as one of our most talented writers' GUARDIANIn all failed relationships there is a point that passes unnoticed at the time, which can later be identified as the beginning of the decline. For Helen it was the weekend that the Hidden Man came to Westbury Park.Croydon, 1964. Helen Hansford is in her thirties and an art therapist in a psychiatric hospital where she has been having a long love affair with Gil: a charismatic, married doctor.One spring afternoon they receive a call about a disturbance from a derelict house not far from Helen's home. A thirty-seven-year-old man called William Tapping, with a beard down to his waist, has been discovered along with his elderly aunt. It is clear he has been shut up in the house for decades, but when it emerges that William is a talented artist, Helen is determined to discover his story.Shy Creatures is a life-affirming novel about all the different ways we can be confined, how ordinary lives are built of delicate layers of experience, the joy of freedom and the transformative power of kindness.'A magnificent novel. I loved it to its bones' EMMA STONEX'A lively, funny, forgiving novel' PATRICK GALE'Completely absorbing' LISSA EVANS'A rich and tender story of kindness and compassion' RUTH HOGAN*Small Pleasures was a Silver Award bestseller according to Nielsen BookScan UK, 10 November 2023

The Editor's Wife is a captivating novel penned by the talented Clare Chambers. Published by Cornerstone in 2008, this book is a remarkable addition to the literary world. The genre, a mix of drama and romance, creates a unique blend that keeps readers hooked from the first page to the last. The story revolves around the life of an editor's wife, unfolding layers of emotions, relationships, and unexpected twists. Clare Chambers' masterful storytelling and character development make this novel a must-read. Published by Cornerstone, a publisher known for its quality literature, The Editor's Wife is a testament to the author's prowess and creativity. If you're looking for a book that offers a deep, immersive reading experience, The Editor's Wife by Clare Chambers is the perfect choice.

In 1976, four students took a trip to the desert. Now the repercussions of the fateful summer are coming back to haunt them. As for Nina, she's having enough trouble with her son, James. But when Hugo, long-forgotten agent of misfortune, threatens to pay them all a visit, disaster seems unavoidable.

From the highly-acclaimed author of SMALL PLEASURES - longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2021On the brink of forty, newly single with a failed business, Philip thought he'd reached an all-time low. It only needed a discarded chip on a South London street to lay him literally flat.

A novel about love, family and the joy of freedom from the award-winning author of Small Pleasures, perfect for fans of Sarah Winman and Maggie O'Farrell

In the best tradition of Tessa Hadley, Kazuo Ishiguro, and Ann Patchett?an astonishing, keenly observed period piece about an ordinary British woman in the 1950s whose dutiful life takes a sudden turn into a pitched battle between propriety and unexpected passion."With wit and dry humor...quietly affecting in unexpected ways. Chambers' language is beautiful, achieving what only the most skilled writers can: big pleasure wrought from small details."--The New York TimesLONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION1957: Jean Swinney is a feature writer on a local paper in the southeast suburbs of London. Clever but with limited career opportunities and on the brink of forty, Jean lives a dreary existence that includes caring for her demanding widowed mother, who rarely leaves the house. It's a small life with little joy and no likelihood of escape.That all changes when a young woman, Gretchen Tilbury, contacts the paper to claim that her daughter is the result of a virgin birth. Jean seizes onto the bizarre story and sets out to discover whether Gretchen is a miracle or a fraud. But the more Jean investigates, the more her life becomes strangely (and not unpleasantly) intertwined with that of the Tilburys, including Gretchen's gentle and thoughtful husband Howard, who mostly believes his wife, and their quirky and charming daughter Margaret, who becomes a sort of surrogate child for Jean. Gretchen, too, becomes a much-needed friend in an otherwise empty social life.Jean cannot bring herself to discard what seems like her one chance at happiness, even as the story that she is researching starts to send dark ripples across all their lives...with unimaginable consequences.Both a mystery and a love story, Small Pleasures is a literary tour-de-force in the style of The Remains of the Day, about conflict between personal fulfillment and duty; a novel that celebrates the beauty and potential for joy in all things plain and unfashionable.

'Compassionate and challenging, warmly human and coolly rigorous. . . I am now thinking afresh about how I live in my own body, in a world where, as Clare Chambers argues, nobody's body is ever allowed to be good enough, just as it is' Timandra HarknessWhat would it take for your body to be good enough?The pressure to change our bodies is overwhelming. We strive to defy ageing, build our biceps, cure our disabilities, conceal our quirks. Surrounded by filtered photos and surgically-enhanced features, we must contort our physical selves to prejudiced standards of beauty. Perfection is impossible, and even an acceptable body seems out of reach.In this mind-expanding book, Cambridge philosopher Clare Chambers argues that the unmodified body is a key political principle. While defending our right to change our bodies, she argues that the social pressures to modify undermine equality. She shows how the connected ideas of the natural body, the normal body, and the whole body have been used both to disrupt and to maintain social hierarchies - sometimes oppressing, other times liberating. The body becomes a site of political importance: a place where hierarchies of sex, gender, race, disability, age, and class are reinforced. Through a thought-provoking analysis of the power dynamics that structure our society, and with examples ranging widely from bodybuilding to breast implants, deafness to male circumcision, Intact stresses that we must break away from the oppressive forces that demand we alter our bodies. Instead, it offers a bold, transformative vision of the human body that is equal without expectation.

This Handbook covers the most urgent, controversial, and important topics in the philosophy of sex. It is both philosophically rigorous and yet accessible to specialists and non-specialists, covering ethics, political philosophy, metaphysics, the philosophy of science, and the philosophy of language.

In the best tradition of Tessa Hadley, Kazuo Ishiguro, and Ann Patchett?an astonishing, keenly observed period piece about an ordinary British woman in the 1950s whose dutiful life takes a sudden turn into a pitched battle between propriety and unexpected passion."With wit and dry humor...quietly affecting in unexpected ways. Chambers' language is beautiful, achieving what only the most skilled writers can: big pleasure wrought from small details."--The New York TimesLONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION1957: Jean Swinney is a feature writer on a local paper in the southeast suburbs of London. Clever but with limited career opportunities and on the brink of forty, Jean lives a dreary existence that includes caring for her demanding widowed mother, who rarely leaves the house. It's a small life with little joy and no likelihood of escape.That all changes when a young woman, Gretchen Tilbury, contacts the paper to claim that her daughter is the result of a virgin birth. Jean seizes onto the bizarre story and sets out to discover whether Gretchen is a miracle or a fraud. But the more Jean investigates, the more her life becomes strangely (and not unpleasantly) intertwined with that of the Tilburys, including Gretchen's gentle and thoughtful husband Howard, who mostly believes his wife, and their quirky and charming daughter Margaret, who becomes a sort of surrogate child for Jean. Gretchen, too, becomes a much-needed friend in an otherwise empty social life.Jean cannot bring herself to discard what seems like her one chance at happiness, even as the story that she is researching starts to send dark ripples across all their lives...with unimaginable consequences.Both a mystery and a love story, Small Pleasures is a literary tour-de-force in the style of The Remains of the Day, about conflict between personal fulfillment and duty; a novel that celebrates the beauty and potential for joy in all things plain and unfashionable.