Old Baggage
Old Baggage
paperback
Published:
27 December, 2018
Description
As featured on BBC Radio 4 Good Reads
'The work of a novelist in her prime' Daily Telegraph
'Wise and witty' Sarah Hughes, Observer
'Essential . . . Evans is a brilliant storyteller' Stylist
'A timely, bittersweet comic novel' Guardian
'A thoughtful, funny, companionable novel' Sunday Times
_______________________________
What do you do next, after you've changed the world?
It is 1928. Matilda Simpkin, rooting through a cupboard, comes across a small wooden club - an old possession of hers, unseen for more than a decade.
Mattie is a woman with a thrilling past and a chafingly uneventful present. During the Women's Suffrage Campaign she was a militant. Jailed five times, she marched, sang, gave speeches, smashed windows and heckled Winston Churchill, and nothing - nothing - since then has had the same depth, the same excitement.
Now in middle age, she is still looking for a fresh mould into which to pour her energies. Giving the wooden club a thoughtful twirl, she is struck by an idea - but what starts as a brilliantly idealistic plan is derailed by a connection with Mattie's militant past, one which begins to threaten every principle that she stands for.
Old Baggage is a funny and bittersweet portrait of a woman who has never, never given up the fight.
More Details
| Type | Book |
|---|---|
| ISBN13 | 9781784161217 |
| ISBN10 | 1784161217 |
| Number Of Pages | 336 |
| Item Weight | 235 g |
| Product Dimensions | 127 x 198 x 21 mm |
| Publisher / Reseller | Transworld Publishers Ltd |
| Format | paperback |
Media Reviews
Wise and witty -- Sarah Hughes * Observer *
I loved Old Baggage. Such original characters, and so timely. And it made me weep at the end. -- JoJo Moyes
Utterly wonderful and intelligent -- India Knight * Sunday Times Magazine *
A timely, bittersweet comic novel * Guardian *
Old Baggage gives an inspiring model of womanhood. Moving, warm and wry. It is wonderful! -- Marian Keyes
This beautifully written story teems with atmosphere and perfect period detail but it’s the brave and brilliant Mattie that makes it unforgettable * Sunday Mirror *
Essential . . . Evans is a brilliant storyteller * Stylist *
Lissa Evans’s gift for comedy edged with satire and pathos is God-given . . . Mattie’s search for meaning and purpose, which hints at the darker undercurrents of people marginalised by their sex and era, will strike a chord with most. -- Elizabeth Buchan * Daily Mail *
A thoughtful, funny, companionable novel, offering an invigoratingly fresh vantage on a well-trodden period -- Patricia Nicol * Sunday Times *
Lissa Evans writes with beguiling wit and vigour. I found myself utterly involved with her heroines, and the history is spot-on. -- Jane Robinson, author of HEARTS AND MINDS
Author's Bio
Since producing Father Ted, Lissa Evans has written seven novels, including the bestselling Old Baggage, Their Finest Hour and a Half (filmed as Their Finest), Small Change for Stuart and Wed Wabbit, both shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, and Small Bomb at Dimperley.