The Miseducation of Evie Epworth: The Bestselling Richard & Judy Book Club Pick

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Evie, our "heroine", is a 16 year old (who comes across as a 10 year old), the daughter of a farm owner, or "the naive father", who seemed besotted by a 22 year old, or "the evil step mother". The "perfect mother" died when Evie was just a baby and nobody ever told her anything about this maternal figure. As I read the book sometimes I had the feeling that the characters (family members, neighbours...) had just met!! And I could go on and on... There are some funny situations described, but overall they don't contribute to the plot or the main storyline. Set in the 1960s, Evie is a 16 year old girl from Yorkshire and she lives with her widowed father and his 'housekeeper' (Christine) who is a younger woman with her heart set on marrying Evie's dad. Evie, of course, is not a fan of the idea and sets out to derail the relationship. Evie recognises that Christine is not necessarily in love with her father and because Evie dotes on her father she thinks he deserves better.

Now Christine is the one character in this book that I don’t think anyone likes. She is the gold digging villain of the story that you can’t help but want to see fail. She took the term evil step-mother and fully embodied it. The pleasure I felt when Evie was trying to rid her life of all things Christine was second to none and the dialogue between these two characters was written perfectly. This will certainly be one of my favourite books of the year. It occurs to me I read so many books about devious characters I'm almost agog when people turn out to be kind and generous. That's certainly the case with Mrs Scott-Pym and her daughter who are there for Evie when she most needs guidance and friendship.When a certain nasty accident brings Caroline Scott-Pym home to their Yorkshire village, they discover an instant rapport, and Evie has an ally in her campaign to see off the cheating, lying gold-digger. We have the chance for you to win 10 copies of this fantastic novel for your reading group! Please enter by Friday 14 August.

Of course, unlike me, Evie defines Womanhood narrowly based on her own experience. Will she become a farmer's wife as desired by her father, a hairdresser (Christine's idea), will she continue at school and become a teacher (a friend's suggestion) or will she become an Independent Woman like her neighbour, Mrs Scott-Pym's daughter? The Miseducation of Evie Epworth by Matson Taylor was published in Australia by Simon & Schuster and is now available. Mrs Scott-Pym decides that Songs to Unshroud a Scarlet Woman is appropriate spell, but despite following it meticulously, Evie doesn’t see any immediate effect. But in her interactions with Mrs Scott-Pym, she does discover a heretofore unmentioned daughter who resides in London, a chic, stylish, daring woman who looks like someone Evie could emulate.I am Evie, sixteen and a half, as wise as a tree, as tall as time, the fastest milk bottle in East Yorkshire, hurtling towards Womanhood. p 7 Matson Taylor has crafted a wonderful set of characters and placed them around an incredibly likeable narrator, who needs to understand her past before she can progress to the future. As well as Evie herself, I loved Christine, Vera (Christine's mum) who were the comedy baddies, and elderly neighbour, Mrs Scott-Pym and her daughter Caroline. Evie had a special relationship with the Scott-Pyms, and Evie's influence on helping to mend bridges whist building her own was really rewarding. There was so much to adore in The Miseducation of Evie Epworth - it had warmth at its heart and the those witty and comical, side-splitting moments kept on coming. Oh this book is the perfect antidote to all of the horrendous things that seem to be on the news this year!

What we get in The Miseducation Of Evie Epworth is a cast of very strong female characters. Some aren't as likeable as the rest (Christine and Vera 🙄) however, they each bring something to the table. Is it a decision we can or do make, I wondered. Do we decide who we are or who we become, or is our destiny predetermined? How can we influence that? Written as a diary from Evie's point of view, this is a wonderful coming of age story, intelligently and delightfully written, infused with humour and original and wonderful characters. As a 60s teenager growing up on a farm, Evie is fresh and naive with an unrestrained zest for life and a character to cheer on as she strives towards her future. Highly recommended! Nothing ever adds us: they live on a farm, but despite the mention in the beginning that Evie distributes the farm's milk, nobody seems to be working at the farm. Or maybe the father, who is absent for most of the conversations/episodes, is doing all the work? Tight, clever and riddled with wit. Like discovering Adrian Mole or Bridget Jones for the first time.’ Joanna Nadin, author of The Queen of Bloody EverythingI found myself intrigued by Evie's obsession about the kind of Woman she'd become. On observing two older women - one lean, the other overweight - she wonders "How many different versions of Woman can there be? (And, even more importantly, which version will I be?)" p 29 The book was selected with the help of a panel of library staff from across the UK. Our readers loved The Miseducation of Evie Epworth – here are some of their comments: The Miseducation of Evie Epworth is one of the funniest most enjoyable books that I have read. Author Matson Taylor has got the balance just right of a comical story all about Evie Epworth. The Miseducation of Evie Epworth is a charming debut from Matson Taylor, featuring sixteen-year-old Evie in the heart of the Yorkshire countryside during the 1906s. This book delivered everything I love: quirky characters, zippy one-liners, heartfelt relationships, and real-life emotional struggle blended with humorous, light-hearted moments. Though perhaps I need to throw an asterisk on “humorous” because we’re talking dry, witty British humor here, and that’s not going to make everyone laugh out loud. Given my British roots, though, I found it enjoyable and I think many others will as well. Evie’s first-person narrative is punctuated by short excerpts from the past (entitled interlude) which tell the story of not only Evie’s parents marriage and move to the farm but her mother’s friendship with Mrs Scott-Pym and in turn her fraught relationship with Caroline. Weaving past and present together adds depth to the story and keeps Evie’s mother, who died when she was one, ever present in the story. Alongside Evie’s own journey the major subplot centres on Mrs Scott-Pym coming to terms with, and accepting, her own daughter’s life choices and this was both subtly handled and an entirely unexpected source of joy.

Warm, witty and wise - a coming-of-age story featuring a truly inimitable Yorkshire heroine in Evie. One of my friends loved this debut novel by Matson Taylor but it still took me months to get to it and I am so thankful I did. In fact, although I was keen for something light... a good psychological thriller about some murderous psychopath; from the opening lines of this novel I was transported into Evie's world. It's written in first person from 16 year old Evie's point of view and almost akin to stream-of-consciousness thinking. Taylor gives Evie a really delightful voice and this is a quirky and often-funny read. At the same time however, there are moments of poignancy, some of which come as a result of life experience and realising things young Evie does not. If Evie can rescue her bereaved father, Arthur, from Christine’s pink and over-perfumed clutches, and save the farmhouse from being sold off then maybe she can move on with her own life and finally work out exactly who it is she is meant to be. Selection panel review I absolutely loved the characters in this, they were all so vibrant and vivid. It’s a perfect summer read and had me smiling from ear to ear. Evie herself isn’t an annoying protagonist like some younger characters can be. She had a maturity whilst maintaining a young aura. I just wanted to wrap myself up in village life. I know there are parts of growing up covered in this that many of us will relate to. It is set in 1962 which made it feel both modern and historical. The theme of 'becoming a Woman' is one Evie revisits throughout the novel. And I guess, in many ways this is a coming-of-age novel. One that takes place over a few weeks (or perhaps months) of Evie's life. At a pivotal point in that life.The most wonderful thing about this book is Evie's voice. Written by an adult male, I am in awe of how well he made me believe that I was reading the thoughts and words of a adolescent girl. On top of that, Evie is hilarious. She is sweet and caring but oh so very naive, yet weirdly astute despite her naivety. She cares deeply for her next door neighbour Mrs Scott-Pym, and as the book progresses she meets an array of characters who help her to figure out her identity, and the kind of woman she wants to grow up to be.