Who is Constance Harding? She's a conservative Englishwoman obsessed with her pet parrot and fervently passionate about church bell choir. Constance signs her (clearly gay) son up for a heterosexual dating service and bakes her sullen teenage daughter fairy cakes in a failed attempt at bonding; she's also clueless to that fact that her housekeeper may be doing more than just her husband's laundry.
But in Ceri Radford's debut novel, A Surrey State of Affairs, we simply can't help but like this daffy character. With her unappreciative grown children and cad of a husband--who won't even accept her friendship on Facebook--you'll find yourself rooting for Constance to have a Bridget Jones-like pivotal moment of transformation. The kindhearted Constance, freshly baked shortbread in hand, marches through suburbia, trying to improve the lives of those around her. Her schemes are often misguided, however, causing you to spout Earl Grey out your nose.
Though Constance is a throwback to another time, she is modern in one respect--she's started a blog. The story is told through this device, making readers privy to the inner workings of Constance's mind, which lends Radford's tale a delightful confessional tone.
This may be chick lit for married women, but it's still the most hilarious book you will read all year. The clinging-to-tradition Constance could be your mother or your aunt but, honestly, in our attempts to adjust to a modern world that sometimes seems to be spinning out of control, there's a little bit of Constance in all of us. --Natalie Papailiou, author of blog MILF: Mother I'd Like to Friend