Product Description

Welcome to South London, to one of the nicest streets in one of the country's vilest boroughs...For the residents of Lark Grove, events shunt into each other like cars on a fogbound motorway: characters like Anna, a butter-side-up sort of woman; Anna's neighbour Jo, the kind of woman who can ask for a pound of sausages without the butcher smirking; their sons and daughters - Nancy-boy Jed, snivelling Henry, prepubescent Uberbitch Georgina and fat Pandora; Jo's husband Nigel, a terrible one for casual sex; and Anna's husband, 'good old Chris', the worm that turns. Jenny Eclair's debut novel brilliantly dissects the problems of urban living. Camberwell Beauty - come inside, shut the door and smell the coffee. You could almost be in Kensington.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #144402 in Books
• Published on: 2005-07-14
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

Review
'This comedienne has always been a novelist-in-waiting ... Eclair's modern cautionary tale has the same bittersweet wit that shapes her stand-up set, but there's nothing remotely funny about its dark conclusion' Guardian

About the Author
Jenny Eclair remains the sole female to win the prestigious Perrier Award for Comedy at the Edinburgh Festival. This is her first novel.

Customer Reviews

The most joyless book I've ever read.
Still, I read it in a day, because you can't deny it's clever and shrewd. I must also warn you it's incredibly crude. But I wonder how a comedian can view life from such a dark and hopeless point. The book even made me a little bit depressed. I read her second book first, which was written in a similar style, and good up to a point, the ending was really a bodge job in my opinion, looked like she got tired of her characters. The books are 'quality paperback' but I'm not touching her creations (if she writes another one) any more, they are too depressing.

Well written, but unpleasant characters
I couldn't finish this because although Jenny Eclair is talented and a good writer, there were no redeeming features in any of the characters. They were all unpleasant and self-seeking, and there was no-one to root for, which makes it a depressing book. It's possible that redemption was to be found in the later chapters, but I couldn't plough through the nastiness to get there. It would be lovely to see Jenny Eclair's wit, talent, clever observation and good writing applied to a nicer cast.

Camberwell Beauty is a Beauty!!!
I bought this book when it was originally published but only got round to reading it last week - how I wish I'd read it before!

This is a fantastic read from start to finish. Centered around 2 families, I couldn't wait to turn each page to find out what happened next - it was funny (very - had me laughing out loud!)and so realistic. Yes, the ending was not the happy turned-out-well-in-the-end one I'd have expected but hey,
that's life. I can't wait for Jenny's next book to be published.

My only disappointment - it ended too soon!