We join the Blog Tour for Matson Taylor’s first novel, The Miseducation of Evie Epworth.
The Miseducation – the blurb
July, 1962
Sixteen year-old Evie Epworth stands on the cusp of womanhood. But what kind of a woman will she become?
The fastest milk bottle-delivery girl in East Yorkshire, Evie is tall as a tree and hot as the desert sand. She dreams of an independent life lived under the bright lights of London (or Leeds). The two posters of Adam Faith on her bedroom wall (‘brooding Adam’ and ‘sophisticated Adam’) offer wise counsel about a future beyond rural East Yorkshire. Her role models are Charlotte Bronte, Shirley MacLaine and the Queen. But, before she can decide on a career, she must first deal with the malign presence of her future step-mother, the manipulative and money-grubbing Christine.
If Evie can rescue her bereaved father, Arthur, from Christine’s pink and over-perfumed clutches, and save the farmhouse from being sold off then maybe she can move on with her own life and finally work out exactly who it is she is meant to be.
Who is Evie?
I started this book slightly unsure what I was reading. Is it YA? Yes, the protagonist is only 16. Is it adult fiction? Yes, it’s a coming of age book that I think sits comfortably for both sets of reader. The 60s provides a fab setting for the book, as does Yorkshire. It was so lovely to read a book so positive about location. Evie wasn’t a girl trying to escape a stifling, small town for the bright lights of London. Sure she was attracted to the glamour of it all, but she loved her home, the people around her (well most of them) and the life she was living.
All the women
I laughed out loud at certain places (I will never think of Jerusalem in the same way again!) I loved the little flits back in time that added a certain depth to the story. The characters were spot on and I really loved the amount of women in the book. Women of all ages and backgrounds coming together and uniting in a very Yorkshire way.
I had no idea where it was going to end up, it wasn’t the least bit predictable and it took me joyfully along for the ride. That’s what the book is, joyful, with a very strong sense of placement. I am now off to attempt making Gougeres and then enjoy them with a strong cup of tea (Yorkshire of course!)
Thanks
My thanks go to Scribner books alongside the Random Things Blog Tours for a copy of The Miseducation of Evie Epworth in exchange for an honest review. I loved it, the cover, the characters and the very essence of it. It’s a lovely book to read over the summer, if you’re a Yorkshire lass, if you love the 60s, cake, tea, coffee, farming, fashion, french food………………
