Reasons to be Cheerful, by Nina Stibbe

This odd little book resembles the Ian Dury song it is named for; it starts off as quirkily innocuous but creeps up and gets its hooks into you so that you can’t dislodge it. In Leicester 1980, 18-year-old Lizzie left school very early and has already burned through several jobs. She lives in the shadow of her overwhelming mother, a larger-than-life character who aspires to be a novelist. Lizzie finds her feet when she lands a job as a dental nurse and moves out of home to live in the flat above the practice. The dentist might be obnoxious, but she acquires some friends and even a boyfriend of sorts, although her mother manages to insert herself into this relationship. Reminiscent of Caitlin Moran’s Raised by Wolves, Reasons to be Cheerful paints a gently scathing picture of growing up in the early years of Thatcher’s Britain. Funny in a very understated way, some characters border on caricature but don’t quite topple over the line. At the centre of all is Lizzie, self-confessed weirdo who finds the strength after great sadness to strike out on her own.