Harnessing Peacocks, by Mary Wesley

With her first novel published at the age of 70, Mary Wesley had plenty of time to hone her sharply observed brand of social comedy. Probably best known for the wartime shenanigans of The Camomile Lawn, in Harnessing Peacocks Wesley jumps forward in time to create equally quirky and engaging characters, gently skewering the snobbery of the ‘right sort’ of people while celebrating a slice of English life that always fascinates. Resilient single mother Hebe has escaped the stifling hypocrisy of the ‘right sort’ and supports her small family by making the most of her talents in the kitchen and the bedroom. But is she courting hypocrisy herself by using her earnings to send her son to the kind of school that will gain him admission to the society she has turned her back on? Brutally honest about sex, money and marriage and about people’s motivations around all of them, Harnessing Peacocks is also a warm and funny tale of taking love where you find it and creating a satisfactory family to replace one that is not.