Connie always had big dreams, but they’ve never quite panned out, so somehow, instead of Mick Jagger and a Paris flat, she’s ended up with an Elvis-impersonating boyfriend, a two-up two-down in Leeds and a day job on the checkout at Morrisons. Apart from her beloved daughter Sadie, it’s not much to show for nearly thirty years on the planet.
Jean hasn’t seen her good-for-nothing daughter Connie since she ran away from home to make a name for herself aged seventeen and pregnant, but in the wake of the Royal Wedding, Jean gets a life-changing call: could she please come and collect the granddaughter she’s never met?
For Sadie, eleven, home has always been a movable feast but, when the unthinkable happens, she’s sent to Essex to live with grandparents she didn’t know existed. After an attempt to track down her father fails, she begins to realize that so-called Pram Town might be her most permanent home yet.
We all know how Charles and Di turned out, and Jean and Sadie are hardly a match made in heaven – but is there hope of a happy ending for them?
Written in Joanna Nadin’s trademark dazzling prose, The Talk of Pram Town tells the story of three generations of Earnshaws, the secrets that shaped their decisions, and how, if you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got . . .
- Shortlisted for the East Anglian Book Award
Reviews
‘Sadie’s journey from tragedy to hope is moving. It’s fabulous on mothers and daughters, guilt and ambition and what it means to be alienated from the life you’ve always known.’ (Daily Mail)
‘I loved this book’ (Ann Cleeves, creator of Vera and Shetland)
‘Beautifully written and deliciously clever… you’ll find joy on every page.’ (Matson Taylor)
‘A triumph.’ (Kate Eberlen, author of Miss You)
‘Enchanting and emotional’ (My Weekly)
‘ASTOUNDINGLY brilliant. One of my favourite books in recent times.’ (Emma Carroll)
Joanna Nadin 