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''An irresistible novel which combines a crumbling once-grand house, bumbling aristos clinging to the pre-war past, and the magnificent Zena Baxter. This is Lissa Evans at the peak of her mighty powers'' India Knight, bestselling author of My Life on a Plate ''Generous, touching and romantic'' Clare Chambers, author of Small Pleasures ''Funny, poignant, perfect'' Daisy Goodwin, author of My Last Duchess ''Sharp, witty and warm. Press it on friends'' Lev Parikian, author of Taking Flight ___________ It''s 1945, and Corporal Valentine Vere-Thissett, aged 23, is on his way home. But ''home'' is Dimperley, built in the 1500s, vast and dilapidated, up to its eaves in debt and half-full of fly-blown taxidermy and dependent relatives, the latter clinging to a way of life that has gone forever. And worst of all - following the death of his heroic older brother - Valentine is now Sir Valentine, and is responsible for the whole bloody place. To Valentine, it''s a millstone; to Zena Baxter, who has never really had a home before being evacuated there with her small daughter, it''s a place of wonder and sentiment, somewhere that she can''t bear to leave. But Zena has been living with a secret, and the end of the war means she has to face a reckoning of her own... Funny, sharp and touching, Small Bomb at Dimperley is both a love story and a bittersweet portrait of an era of profound loss, and renewal. ____________ More Praise for Small Bomb at Dimperley ''Brilliantly funny, moving and joyous'' Catherine Johnson ''A glorious read. I laughed many times rejoicing in the wit, cleverness and humanity'' Elizabeth Buchan ''Loaded with period detail, primed with characters you feel you''ve known for years, Small Bomb at Dimperley explodes comically, lovingly and very slightly wistfully into absolute delight'' Hilary McKay ''Deeply enjoyable, lovable and poignant. Her characters are created with such affection and care it makes you wish you could step into the story and become one of them'' Miranda France ...
