Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers

1957, the suburbs of South East London. Jean Swinney is a journalist on a local paper, trapped in a life of duty and disappointment from which there is no likelihood of escape.

When a young woman, Gretchen Tilbury, contacts the paper to claim that her daughter is the result of a virgin birth, it is down to Jean to discover whether she is a miracle or a fraud.

As the investigation turns her quiet life inside out, Jean is suddenly given an unexpected chance at friendship, love and – possibly – happiness.

But there will, inevitably, be a price to pay.

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Small Pleasures is one of those novels that I remember hearing about around the time of its publication but that I never quite got around to purchasing.  I spotted a copy at a recent charity book sale and couldn’t resist the opportunity to add it to my shelves. 

The main protagonist is Jean Swinney.  In her late 30s, she works as a journalist for the North Kent Echo, primarily responsible for household tips and gardening features.  Despite her focus on house and home type articles, she is treated as an equal by her male counterparts.  No one patronises her, or expects her to make the coffee.  Set in 1957, I found this to be both refreshing and unusual.  Perhaps battling the sexism of the time would have over-complicated the narrative, or maybe some men were able to accept women as their peers, even though it seems to go against much of the narrative that I’ve seen from the time. Whatever the reason, it was refreshing to not have to become frustrated on Jean’s behalf at the rampant misogyny one usually encounters in novels set during this period. 

In Small Pleasures, Jean gets the opportunity to investigate and report on a rather unusual story as a young woman, Gretchen, claims that her daughter was the result of a virgin birth.  Naturally, this story is met with some scepticism, but as Jean begins to investigate, she finds that she can’t easily dismiss the claim.  I loved seeing the plot unfold as Gretchen and her daughter, Margaret, are subjected to a series of tests as doctors attempt to prove or disprove Gretchen’s assertion.  I have to admit, I did have an inkling of what the outcome would be, but I loved the element of mystery that it added to the novel, particularly as Jean’s investigation and the tests continue to be inconclusive.  It’s very well thought out, and the situation isn’t quite as eyeroll-inducing as I feared it might be.

While investigating Gretchen’s story, we get to know Jean better, and I absolutely adored her!  I loved her straightforward and no-nonsense attitude, although I did feel a huge about of sympathy for her.  She’s a character who hasn’t had the opportunity to experience life to the full as she has to care for her mother who is housebound, but largely out of choice, as far as I could tell.  It felt as though Jean had been expected to give up on having any kind of life for herself – including the opportunity to develop friendships or to get married (again going against the norm for the time), without any consultation as to her thoughts on the matter.  As Jean’s work starts to take her out of the house more often, her mother’s resentment is palpable, making Jean feel guilty for daring to have a life of her own.  I felt increasingly angry on Jean’s behalf at this, and developed an almost irrational loathing of her mother.

While investigating, Jean does – against her better judgement – become close to the Tilbury family, developing bonds with Gretchen, Margaret, and Gretchen’s husband, Howard (not on the scene at the time of the conception).  As the novel progresses, we see Jean become increasingly close to Howard, and while I wouldn’t wish to break up anyone’s family, I couldn’t help but see Howard as Jean’s opportunity for happiness, particularly as we come to understand more about the family’s situation.  This was another element of the novel that I enjoyed as Jean and Howard become closer and the plot develops along will they / won’t they lines. 

Small Pleasures is a novel with a little bit of everything.  Great characters who are entirely relatable and largely sympathetic, a bit of mystery, a dash of romance.  And Chambers successfully evokes the time in which the novel is set, and in particular the “make do and mend” mentality that remained following the Second World War. I also love the way in which the household tips which Jean curates for the paper are dotted throughout the text, complementing the narrative. This is a clever novel that I thoroughly enjoyed, and one that I heartily recommend.