Sweet Desserts

Suzy Schwarz has learnt one or two things about life: other people know how you should live better than you do; sisters (especially Fran) can destroy your sanity and self-esteem; lust calls for careful timing because it rarely coincides with that of your partner; and most heartbreaking of all, parents die on you, leaving you grieving. The only thing that provides constant solace when times are bad (and they usually are) is food. Outright rapture -- Clive James Lucy Ellmann does write a lovely novel ... an enchanting, enchanted book -- Fay Weldon A triumph ... there isn't a sentimental evasion or a dull bit of writing in the book ... it is painful to read but also exhilarating ... Lucy Ellmann is an original Guardian A wild book, in which angst-ridden confessions are interrupted by excerpts from cook books, authoritarian healthy-eating guides, pretentious theses on modern art, officious radio sex-advice shows, diaries, suicide notes, and pauses for American ice-cream and Rich Tea biscuits. Even the index breaks the rules ... Thanks to its spirited author (the story) is funny in spite of itself - and refreshingly unguarded Observer