Small Pleasures cover art

Small Pleasures

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for £0.00
£8.99/mo thereafter. Renews automatically. Terms apply. Offer ends 31 July 2025 at 23:59 GMT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.

Small Pleasures

By: Clare Chambers
Narrated by: Karen Cass
Try for £0.00

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Offer ends 31 July 2025 23:59 GMT. Cancel monthly.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION
A BBC 2 'BETWEEN THE COVERS' BOOK CLUB PICK

'Wonderful' RICHARD OSMAN
'Perfect' INDIA KNIGHT
'Beautiful' JESSIE BURTON
'Witty and sharp' DAVID NICHOLLS

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.

'Gorgeous . . . I could not recommend it more' PANDORA SYKES
'Remarkable . . . Small Pleasures is no small pleasure' THE TIMES
'Irresistible . . . wry, perceptive and quietly devastating' MAIL ON SUNDAY

©2020 Clare Chambers (P)2020 Orion Publishing Group 20th Century Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Mystery Private Investigators Romance Detective Heartfelt Suspense

Listeners also enjoyed...

 The Lost Bookshop cover art
The Woman with the Map cover art
Star Mother cover art
Women at War cover art
Relative Love cover art
The Killings at Badger’s Drift cover art
A Beautiful Spy cover art
A Gift of Time cover art
Wartime Brides cover art
The Echo of Old Books cover art
Good Girls cover art
What the Wind Knows cover art
The Summer House Party cover art
All stars
Most relevant  
This story of a good woman, trapped by her circumstances and forced to lead a life of dull routine until her life is changed by an unusual letter, is what library readers a generation ago would have called a “good book”. Set as it is in the 1950s, the author’s fluent story-telling and skilled character creation would have enthralled readers of the time. They are qualities that work every bit as well now, although the ending is clearly more of this time. Here a good book becomes even more engaging when enhanced by the exemplary reading it gets in this audio book version.

A story well told

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I didn’t enjoy it very much…too gloomy for me.
I found the narrators intonations weird at times.

Sad

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I really wanted to know what would happen next! The characters are plausible and relatable: the suburban context familiar. There was a slight tension between the author's modern take on love and life and my understanding of 50's Britain but this really provided the intrigue.
The narration was a little distracting ; her male voices sounded like the giant in Jack and the Beanstalk but managed to get over that znd yo really enjoy this story.

Realistic characters and a fresh plot

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I suffered through this as I don't like to leave a book unfinished. The narrator was truly awful, giving the end of every sentence a frustrating intonation which left me unable to fully focus on the story which would have otherwise been enjoyable despite a slightly unsatisfactory ending. I will avoid any further books with this narrator.

Unbearable narrator

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I loved all the little details in this story. The characters all felt very real.

I did struggle with the ending as it related to a less central character and that made it feel like the story for everyone else (all women) just stopped.

A lovely intimate story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is a beautiful book, which evokes the 1950s, that hinterland, not long after the war, and before the more ‘swinging’ time of the 1960s. The 1950s, where small pleasures of domestic life, such as setting your hair in curlers and making do and mending your well worn clothing, was as exciting as it got for many women. This forms the rich background of Clare Chambers’s story. Narrator, Karen Cass, brings to life the cast of sympathetic characters in a moving tale of love, loss, duty and endurance in which The protagonist, Jean, investigates the story of a woman who claims to have had a virgin birth. It’s a great listen. I found myself completely immersed in the era, and caught up in the drama and emotions of the characters. Highly recommended.

A beautiful, and evocative story of love, loss, duty and endurance

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
really good book and endearing story, but for the computer generated narratives. would recommend. lovley.

Very touching

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Really liked this book loved the character descriptions and empathised with the characters. A book that surprised me by its unusual storyline. Great narrator will definitely read more by this author.. very glad I chose this book.

Absolutely loved it !

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The dialogues were ok but the rest, oh my, it's like listening to a robot talk. Her intonation was awful, while listening to the story I was just thinking about how this read was even approved. Such a shame. I'll pick up the book now and I hope that won't remind me of this terrible experience of listening to this monotonous sound.

Terrible narration

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
really loved this book such an interesting story and I liked thst it was set in the 50s weird attitudes back then

loved it

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews