Matson Taylor

'Rome is both healer and magician in this enchanting novel of homecoming and belonging, and of the transformational power of friendship. Delizioso' Sarah Winman, author of Still Life‘An uplifting joy of a story that brings the exuberance of Rome to life on every page. I felt the heat of the sun, heard the hustle and bustle, could even taste the food’ Frances Quinn, author of The Scandalous Ladies Football ClubA glorious novel of hope and healing for fans of Armistead Maupin, Fredrik Backman and Kate Atkinson. 1952, Trastevere, Rome. An idyllic maze crammed full of narrow streets and eccentric characters. A young English woman, Clementine Severs, arrives armed with a teaching certificate and enough idealism to fill a host of Grecian urns. By 1976, she finds herself wilting, her youthful dreams squashed by time and tide. A chance encounter between an angel and a speeding mint green Vespa brings her into contact with a troubled young carpenter called Montgomery Marsh. Clemmie and Monty forge an unlikely friendship that takes them on a magical ride through the Eternal City in search of fresh hope and a new way of living. Fun, spirited and full of heart, Roman Mornings, like the city of Rome itself, is a novel of mysterious beauty that you will want to revisit time and time again.

'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 Everything 'Full of fabulous characters, sprinkled with joy and drenched in wit.' Milly Johnson July, 1962 Sixteen year-old Evie Epworth stands on the cusp of womanhood. But what kind of a woman will she become? The fastest milk bottle-delivery girl in East Yorkshire, Evie is tall as a tree and hot as the desert sand. She dreams of an independent life lived under the bright lights of London (or Leeds). The two posters of Adam Faith on her bedroom wall ('brooding Adam' and 'sophisticated Adam') offer wise counsel about a future beyond rural East Yorkshire. Her role models are Charlotte Bronte, Shirley MacLaine and the Queen. But, before she can decide on a career, she must first deal with the malign presence of her future step-mother, the manipulative and money-grubbing Christine. 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. Moving, inventive and richly comic, The Miseducation of Evie Epworth is the most joyful debut novel of the year and the best thing to have come out of Yorkshire since Wensleydale cheese.