Costa Book Awards 2009 Judges' comment: "An acutely-studied and skilful dissection of middle-class family life."
Such a cosy thing: comfortable middle-class family life. But in the large, well-worn domain of Allersmead – home to six, now grown and largely dispersed children, their ample and accomplished cook of a mother, distracted father and lifelong au pair – only the dog stays true under scrutiny to the image of shambling contentment. Beyond the chequerboard hallway, sibling sniping, marital disharmony and unspoken pacts to conceal unforgiveable acts play out uncomfortably. A deeply satisfying, eloquent family-fabric novel.
Penelope Lively grew up in Egypt but settled in England after the war and took a degree in history at St Anne's College, Oxford. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and a member of PEN and the Society of Authors. She was married to the late Professor Jack Lively, has a daughter, a son and four grandchildren, and lives in Oxfordshire and London.
Penelope Lively is the author of many prize-winning novels and short story collections for both adults and children. She has twice been shortlisted for the Booker Prize; once in 1977 for her first novel, The Road to Lichfield, and again in 1984 for According to Mark. She later won the 1987 Booker Prize for her highly acclaimed novel Moon Tiger. Her novels include Passing On, shortlisted for the 1989 Sunday Express Book of the Year Award, City of the Mind, Cleopatra's Sister, Heat Wave and her latest, Consequences. Many of her books, including Going Back, which first appeared as a children's book, and Oleander, Jacaranda, an autobiographical memoir of her childhood days in Egypt, are published in Penguin.
Penelope Lively has also written radio and television scripts and has acted as presenter for a BBC Radio 4 programme on children's literature. She is a popular writer for children and has won both the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Award.
