The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year by Sue Townsend (Michael Joseph Ltd)

Eva is the wife of a brilliant astronomer and the mother of even more brilliant twins. On the day she sends her children off to university, she climbs into bed still wearing her shoes and doesn’t leave it for a year.

She needs to think.

Her husband Brian is not happy about this. Who will cook his dinner? In desperation he calls first his mother and then hers. Meanwhile Eva, from the comfort of her bed, is making new friends and big changes.

And slowly she is starting to understand freedom and rediscover the person she lost in amongst laundry and disastrous Christmases.  In her characteristic dry, British humour Sue Townsend brings to life a host of characters you recognise as the people in your own life.

Eva has done what many people fantasize of doing. And from her bed she is finally living the life she wants to.

The writing is imaginative, realistic and laugh-out-loud funny. I found myself tweeting lines from the book that were too good not to share.

If as a child you loved the Adrian Mole Diaries, you will love this.

And if you are a wife or a mother, you will love this. It is family comedy drama at its best. A light-hearted, well written read which is not unintelligent.  Enjoyed best with a hot water bottle and a cup of tea.

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