Fay Weldon's unique insights into the workings of the female mind, her comprehensive knowledge of family relationships and her wisdom about life in general are all brought brilliantly to bear in this fairytale for our times.
I read my daughter's diaries the other day. Let me share with you. You may think you know pretty much what's going on in your own family. Believe me, you do not.'
Sappho was so happy when she married Gavin. She was in love and it seemed that at last everything was falling into place. But she hadn't considered his daughter, Isobel. She is a delightful, charming girl who spends her school holidays caring for the elderly and is the apple of Gavin's eye. Now cast in the role of Wicked Stepmother, Sappho tries all she can to befriend Isobel and find her place in the new family. It's not easy, but no one had promised it would be. Sappho perseveres. But she has a history, and the history works against her.
When it becomes clear that, contrary to popular belief, it is Isobel who steals Gavin's love and attention, and Sappho who must fight for his affection, Sappho is at a loss. How can she win her husband back?
With warmth, wit and her unique insights into the workings of the female mind, Fay Weldon has written a brilliant, unsettling new novel about family life today.
Fay Weldon was a well known novelist, playwright, critic and scriptwriter. Her first novel, A Fat Woman's Joke, was published in 1967 and she published 38 more novels after that, including the widely acclaimed and bestselling The Life and Loves of a She Devil, which has been adapted for screen, television and radio. She also wrote seven collections of short stories and several works of non-fiction, including her autobiography Auto Da Fay and Letters to Alice: On First Reading Jane Austen. Awarded a CBE in 2001, she was appointed Professor of Creative Writing at Bath Spa University in 2012.
For more information about Fay and her work, visit her website: www.fayweldon.co.uk.