In 1980, Lizzie has just turned 18, and her life is about to start. She starts a new job working for a dentist, moves into her own flat, and thinks she may have got herself a boyfriend. Things seem to be going well. But with adult life comes difficulties, and she soon finds out that things aren’t so simple – not helped by an eccentric Freemason boss, a boyfriend prefers birdwatching to sex and the loneliness that comes from living in the city.
Another book of the uplit genre, Nina Stibbe’s Reasons To Be Cheerful is a bright and breezy novel explores the intricacies of human absurdity. It’s fun but empathic, spirited and joyful. The third in the Lizzie Vogel series (with Paradise Lodge and Man At The Helm), Stibbe has created a character to care about, and enjoy spending time with. One to smile your way through.
And So She Thinks 