First of all, let me just say that I'm
a big fan of blogs-turned-books. Admittedly it seems as though the craze has
diminished slightly, but I still can't get enough of them. When I was sent A
Surrey State of Affairs I was delighted; even though, of course, it's merely
fiction.
The book is told from the point of view of Constance Harding, a middle-class woman who's about to turn 54, who takes up blogging for the new year. With her 25-year-old single son Rupert who lives away from home, teen daughter Sophie with her swearing and unruly dress sense, housekeeper Natalia and her bad habits, quiet husband Jeffrey and Darcy the parrot, it seems as though Constance and her family unit live a perfectly normal life in the Home Counties.
Obviously not.
From January, it's obvious that Constance's life is going to take some weird and wonderful turns. When Sophie heads to France to finish her gap year project, Constance is left to ponder why Natalia keeps leaving her undies to dry in her husband's study and why her son Rupert hasn't brought home a girlfriend. Cue an adventure in online dating on Rupert's behalf, along with a relationship disaster at the bell ringing club. And when Sophie returns only to go away on a 'work experience' programme complete with boarding, Constance assumes her rebellious daughter is finally learning life's lessons. That is, until she turns on the TV to find her beloved Sophie on a degrading Big-Brother-esque live show...
Family, friends and personal lives collide in Constance's seemingly charmed (but clearly sometimes chaotic) world. Can she end the year without another disaster?
I absolutely loved this book; Ceri Radford did wonderfully well at conveying Constance's unassuming humour in personal blog form. The twists and turns of Connie's life kept me hooked and even though I originally had high hopes for this book, it was far better than I had expected. I finished it in a day and loved every moment of it. Constance is a typical middle-class English lady with her heart in the right place, though her naivety throughout the book just makes for more comic moments and hilarious outcomes. She's such a fabulous character and I'm hoping she returns!
Rating: 5/5