A Dry Spell

Book excerpt: From the highly-acclaimed author of SMALL PLEASURES - WINNER of the 2022 British Book Awards Page-Turner. In 1976, four students took a trip to the desert. Now the repercussions of that fateful summer are coming back to haunt them... And repercussions are exactly what Guy doesn't need. His wife, Jane, is moving swiftly from slightly eccentric to downright peculiar, their three-year-old daughter seems set on destroying Jane's sanity, and now even God's gone quiet on him. As for Nina, she is having enough trouble with her son, James. He has exams looming, a new girlfriend with pneumatic breasts and now, it seems, he's on drugs. Nina certainly will not welcome any ghosts from the past. Life isn't going smoothly for anyone. But when Hugo, long-forgotten agent of misfortune, threatens to pay them all a visit, disaster seems unavoidable. . . ____________________ Praise for Clare Chambers: 'Bleak but funny, sharply observed characters and crisp dialogue make this a great read' Yorkshire Post 'Intriguing and thought-provoking' Katie Fforde 'A wonderful novel. I loved it!!' Nina Stibbe 'Gorgeous. . . If you are looking for something escapist and bittersweet, I couldn't recommend it more!' Pandora Sykes 'An irresistible novel - wry, perceptive and quietly devastating' Mail on Sunday 'Chambers' eye for undemonstrative details achieves a Larkin-esque lucidity' Guardian 'An almost flawlessly written tale of genuine, grown-up romantic anguish' Sunday Times 'Effortless to read, but every sentence lingers in the mind' Lissa Evans