Come And Tell me Some Lies

Barker, Raffaella

Biographies & Memoirs

Hamish Hamilton

A young divorcee finds herself marooned in the countryside, surrounded by clutter, children, and hens. This charming, wickedly funny, exuberant novel is the talented young author's U.S. debut.

Hens Dancing: A Novel

Literature & Fiction

British & Irish

Random House]

For a year, Venetia Summers has been buffered from single motherhood by her boy-friend, David, but when work takes him to a Brazilian rain forest, things begin to unravel. Phone lines crackle, e-mails languish unanswered, and long-distance love proves to be a bewildering experience. Meanwhile, Venetia’s children and dogs run wilder than ever, brother Desmond’s outrageous wedding takes over her home, and her relationship with an eccentric new neighbor gets off to an unfortunate start. Still, there are the everyday rewards, not least among them the dazzling beauty of the changing Norfolk seasons. How is Venetia to cope alone with an army-style camping holiday, a foul-mouthed Amazonian parrot, and the demanding, if endearing, personalities of three exuberant children? Her burgeoning fashion career, creating outlandish garments for a London boutique, provides much-needed diversion. But when a moonlit walk takes an unexpected turn, she finds herself with a real dilemma on her hands. With Summertime, Raffaella Barker, whom Publishers Weekly called “a postmodern Erma Bombeck,” gives us another sparkling comedy of English rural life, sure to delight fans of her first novel, Hens Dancing, and new readers alike.

Summertime: A Novel

Hilarity and tenderness abound in this novel narrated in pages torn from the diary of one Venetia Summers, a thirty-something divorced mother of three who resides in rural England and is owner of, among other things, controlling shares in her ex-husband’s pet mortuary and numerous pairs of oddly colored Wellingtons. While Venetia’s life may not be as glamorous as the one she left behind in the city ten years ago, it certainly isn’t dull. She has two exuberant young boys and one splendid baby girl–known simply as The Beauty–to feed and outfit and keep happy. Other responsibilities include upkeep of a lovely but ramshackle old house, complete with a garden growing with wild abandon, and the care of a variety of bloomered bantam hens. Then there’s her mother, sometimes helpful and supportive but more often busy tossing back vodka and smoking cigarettes; a rather cute but presumptuous bathroom contractor and his oversexed Labrador; and various other friends, relations and country characters who dart in and out of Venetia’s life, wreaking havoc along the way. Fortunately for her, Venetia is the sort who can find beauty in the surrounding mayhem, and fortunately for us, she records it all with wry wit and great verve, sharing the joys and sometimes dubious pleasures of raising a family in the English countryside.

Anchor

For a year, Venetia Summers has been buffered from single motherhood by her boyfriend, David, but when work takes him to a Brazilian rainforest, things begin to unravel. Phone lines crackle, e-mails go unanswered, and long-distance love proves to be a frustrating experience. Meanwhile, Venetia’s children—Giles, Felix, and The Beauty—and dogs run wilder than ever, her boring freelance career drives her to all kinds of procrastination, and the awkward but persistent advances of a wealthy new neighbor become a little unsettling. How is Venetia to cope? A burgeoning fashion career, creating outlandish garments for a London boutique, provides some needed diversion. But when a moonlit walk takes an unexpected turn, she finds herself with a real dilemma on her hands. Throughout the chaos and moments of tenderness, her frankness and flair make this unsentimental British comedy a total delight

Summertime

Hens Dancing

Contemporary

TRAFALGAR SQUARE +

Laura Sale turned down Guy Mildmay's marriage proposal and left Norfolk for a life in the London art world. Years later and disillusioned with the art scene, she meets Guy in a restaurant. Will she leave London and return to the country?

Green Grass

Headline/Review

The Hook

Bloomsbury Publishing

When Venetia Summers' husband leaves her for another, suddenly she finds herself a single mother of three, her every ounce of wit and resource called into play as she strives to hold together her newly lopsided family. Venetia's attempts to make the best of things, both for her and her children, is intricately recorded in her diaries. Her battles are everyday ones--with wayward flora and fauna, nits, a traumatic bathroom conversion. But there are consolations in her day-to-day existence and perhaps, amongst it all, the promise of new love.

Romance

Paranormal

Isis Large Print Books

A Perfect Life

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Books by Barker, Raffaella