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One Day I Shall Astonish the World

By Nina Stibbe
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3.49 goodreads logo

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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
One Day I Shall Astonish the World by Nina Stibbe is a humorous and poignant tale that explores the lives of two women, Susan and Norma, over three decades. It follows their evolving friendship filled with personal challenges, career aspirations, and the unpredictable ups and downs of life. The story, set against a backdrop of changing times, offers a witty and insightful reflection on ambition, relationships, and the pursuit of happiness.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book may appeal to you if you enjoy tales of friendship and the passage of time, with a touch of wit and humour. It offers a heartfelt exploration of the ups and downs in life, revealing how relationships evolve over decades. Perfect for those who appreciate richly drawn characters and the quirks of everyday life.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

The breakout novel from the prize-winning author of Reasons to be Cheerful about the ebb and flow of female friendship over half a lifetime.

Susan and Norma have been best friends for years, at first thrust together by force of circumstance (a job at The Pin Cushion, a haberdashery shop in 1990s Leicestershire) and then by force of character (neither being particularly inclined to make friends with anyone else).

But now, thirty years later, faced with a husband seeking immortality and Norma out of reach on a wave of professional glory, Susan begins to wonder whether she has made the right choices about life, love, work, and, most importantly, friendship.

Nina Stibbe's new novel is the story of the wonderful and sometimes surprising path of friendship — from its conspiratorial beginnings, along its irritating wrong turns, to its final gratifying destination.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

In One Day I Shall Astonish the World, Nina Stibbe delivers a darkly funny and moving exploration of female friendship and ambition. The novel is praised for its perceptive, laugh-out-loud observations and a fresh depth akin to Sue Townsend's work. With its rich characterisations and the deft use of British suburban life as a backdrop, the book is full of humour, sentiment, and the complexities of long-term relationships. Stibbe's unique voice captures the humour and intricacy of ordinary English life, further cementing her reputation as an outstanding comic novelist.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780241451175

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 20 April 2023

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Viking

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 30.0mm

Width: 128.0mm

Height: 196.0mm

Weight: 260g

Pages: 384

Collections

Contemporary Romance Fiction General Fiction Humour Literary Fiction Nina Stibbe Penguin Books Romance

About the Author

Nina Stibbe was born in Leicester. She is the author of two works of non-fiction - Love, Nina and An Almost Perfect Christmas - and three previous novels- Man at the Helm, Paradise Lodge, and Reasons to be Cheerful, which is the only novel to have won both the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction and the Comedy Women in Print Award. Love, Nina won Non-Fiction Book of the Year and was adapted by Nick Hornby into a BBC TV series. Nina Stibbe lives in Cornwall.

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