It is the summer of 1962 and sixteen-year-old Evie Epworth stands on the cusp of womanhood. But what kind of a woman will she be?
Up until now, Evie’s life has been nothing special: a patchwork of school, Guides, cows, lost mothers, lacrosse and village fetes. But, inspired by her idols (Charlotte Brontë, Shirley MacLaine, the Queen), she dreams of a world far away from rural East Yorkshire, a world of glamour lived under the bright lights of London (or Leeds). Standing in the way of these dreams, though, is Christine, Evie’s soon-to-be stepmother, a manipulative and money-grubbing schemer who is lining Evie up for a life of shampoo-and-set drudgery at the stinky local salon.
Luckily Evie is not alone. With the help of a few friends, and the wise counsel of the two Adam Faith posters on her bedroom wall (‘brooding Adam’ and ‘sophisticated Adam’), Evie comes up with a plan to rescue her future from Christine’s pink and over-perfumed clutches. She will need a little luck, a dash of charm and a big dollop of Yorkshire magic if she is to succeed, but in the process she may just discover who exactly it is she is meant to be.
Moving, inventive and achingly funny, with an all-star cast of bold-as-brass characters, The Miseducation of Evie Epworth is a perfectly pitched modern fairytale about love, friendship and following your dreams while having a lot of fun along the way.
From the back of the book
I loved Evie and her approach to life. This is such a funny book with some real laugh out loud moments, often at times when Evie just seems bewildered by her life. There are some fantastic characters in the book, larger than life and so memorable. Even the ones you don’t really like (yes I mean Christine), provide so many of the humorous scenes in the book. With its 1960s setting, it’s quite a nostalgic read too, at a time when some women were starting to expect a bit more out of life than simply getting married and having children but also when that could still be quite challenging.
If you are needing a bit of a giggle just now, then you could do no better than to get yourself a copy of The Miseducation of Evie Epworth. It’s a really joyful read and sure to leave you smiling.
The Miseducation of Evie Epworth is one of those books I’ve been meaning to read for ages and finally I have got around to it and I loved it! It came out last year in ebook and I remember reading a glowing review from friend and fellow blogger Louise (you can read that here) and thinking that I would really enjoy the book too.
I bought my own copy of this book. It is published by Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, and available in all formats now. You should be able to get your copy from your usual book retailer or you’ll find buying options on the Simon & Schuster website here: The Miseducation of Evie Epworth
Evie is sixteen and a half, a Yorkshire lass living on a farm with her dad, Arthur, and his live-in housekeeper Christine, soon to be her step-mother. It’s fair to say that Christine is a big fan of pink and that Evie is not a big fan of Christine. Evie feels she is just on the edge of womanhood and wondering what kind of woman she will be. She’s not sure but she is certain it’s not the kind of woman Christine would like her to be!
Matson now lives in London, where he is a design historian and academic writing tutor at the V&A, Imperial College and the Royal College of Art. Previously, he talked his way into various jobs at universities and museums around the world; he has also worked on Camden Market, appeared in an Italian TV commercial and been a pronunciation coach for Catalan opera singers. He gets back to Yorkshire as much as possible, mainly to see family and friends but also to get a reasonably-priced haircut.
Matson Taylor grew up in Yorkshire (the flat part not the Brontë part). He comes from farming stock and spent an idyllic childhood surrounded by horses, cows, bicycles, and cheap ice-cream. His father, a York City and Halifax Town footballer, has never forgiven him for getting on the school rugby team but not getting anywhere near the school football team.
I liked the way that the author gave us a bit of back story to some of his characters with short ‘interlude’ chapters. They were often rather moving and tied in well to explain what was happening in Evie’s life.
He has always loved telling stories and, after writing academically about beaded flapper dresses and World War 2 glow-in-the-dark fascinators, he decided to enrol on the Faber Academy ‘Writing A Novel’ course. The Miseducation of Evie Epworth is his first novel.
About the Author
