What makes a wife and mother, pillar of the community and partner in a cosy tea-shop (The Bun in the Oven) suddenly run away to sea, alone
Joanna Gurney hardly knows herself. But as she moves along the rocky, dangerous coast of Britain, evading police and press, Joanna meets other cast-off and washed-up individuals in 1990s Britain, and finds that she can also make a voyage into her own past. And, in the end, find her solution.
Humour, humanity and relish for the enjoyably mundane - Elizabeth Buchan, The Times
A feel-good novel . . . hilarious . . . humorous . . . fabulously incisive - Independent
Well-told and enjoyable ... [the voice] is that of someone genuinely interested in the varieties of human experience, amused but not mocking, understanding but not judgmental - Sunday Telegraph
A sure touch for dramatising the lacerations and upheavals of ordinary life - Sunday Times
Ms Purves has the gift of tongues - a born novelist - Fay Weldon
A glorious romp ... with a healthy dose of satire on media manners and a generous injection of knockabout comedy into the bargain - Country Living
One to sell like hotcakes, Purves' depiction of family chaos will make you laugh out loud - She