The Miseducation of Evie Epworth: The Bestselling Richard & Judy Book Club Pick

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Moving, inventive and achingly funny, with an all-star cast of bold-as-brass characters, The Miseducation of Evie Epworth is a perfectly pitched modern fairytale about love, friendship and following your dreams while having a lot of fun along the way. Tight, clever and riddled with wit. Like discovering Adrian Mole or Bridget Jones for the first time.’ Joanna Nadin, author of The Queen of Bloody Everything The Miseducation of Evie Epworth by Matson Taylor was published in Australia by Simon & Schuster and is now available. Up until now, Evie's life has been nothing special: a patchwork of school, Guides, cows, lost mothers, lacrosse and village fetes. But, inspired by her idols (Charlotte Bronte, Shirley MacLaine, the Queen), she dreams of a world far away from rural East Yorkshire, a world of glamour lived under the bright lights of London (or Leeds). Standing in the way of these dreams, though, is Christine, Evie's soon-to-be stepmother, a manipulative and money-grubbing schemer who is lining Evie up for a life of shampoo-and-set drudgery at the stinky local salon. I found myself intrigued by Evie's obsession about the kind of Woman she'd become. On observing two older women - one lean, the other overweight - she wonders "How many different versions of Woman can there be? (And, even more importantly, which version will I be?)" p 29

Matson Taylor grew up in Yorkshire but now lives in London. He is a design historian and works at the V&A museum, where he teaches on the History of Design programme and spends a lot of time trying to convince people that the luxury goods industry helped win the Second World War. He wrote a chapter on Edward Molyneux, inventor of the flapper dress, for the V&A’s London Couture book and has helped develop a number of projects for TV and radio. He also works at Imperial College, helping scientists communicate very complicated things in a reasonably simple way. The book was selected with the help of a panel of library staff from across the UK. Our readers loved The Miseducation of Evie Epworth – here are some of their comments: What I liked in this story was the past narrative of Evie's parents relationship. Here we got to see a different side to Arthur, the side that showed Evie's mother was his world.The Miseducation of Evie Epworth is set in Yorkshire in the early 1960’s and centres around 16 year old Evie Epworth who lives with her father, Arthur and his live-in housekeeper/fiance Christine on the family farm. Evie’s on the cusp of womanhood and doesn’t quite know what kind of woman she will be. Her mother died when she was a baby and the only female role models in her life are her wonderful elderly next door neighbour Mrs Scott-Pym and the utterly despicable soon to be stepmother Christine. Evie’s first-person narrative is punctuated by short excerpts from the past (entitled interlude) which tell the story of not only Evie’s parents marriage and move to the farm but her mother’s friendship with Mrs Scott-Pym and in turn her fraught relationship with Caroline. Weaving past and present together adds depth to the story and keeps Evie’s mother, who died when she was one, ever present in the story. Alongside Evie’s own journey the major subplot centres on Mrs Scott-Pym coming to terms with, and accepting, her own daughter’s life choices and this was both subtly handled and an entirely unexpected source of joy. A great, pacy coming of age novel set in Yorkshire in the early 60s. Brilliant plot charts the ups and downs of the journey of a young girl from childhood to womenhood with a few twists and turns, lots of comedy and a plenty of drama thrown in. A really enjoyable read but also a serious exploration of the role of women in families and the workplace.”

Such a joyful and uplifting read. Just the sort of thing that people will want to be reading right now.’ Anita Rani, Radio 2 Book ClubI absolutely loved the characters in this, they were all so vibrant and vivid. It’s a perfect summer read and had me smiling from ear to ear. Evie herself isn’t an annoying protagonist like some younger characters can be. She had a maturity whilst maintaining a young aura. I just wanted to wrap myself up in village life. I know there are parts of growing up covered in this that many of us will relate to. It is set in 1962 which made it feel both modern and historical. The Miseducation of Evie Epworth is one of the funniest most enjoyable books that I have read. Author Matson Taylor has got the balance just right of a comical story all about Evie Epworth. Up until now, Evie’s life has been nothing special: a patchwork of school, Guides, cows, lost mothers, lacrosse and village fetes. But, inspired by her idols (Charlotte Brontë, Shirley MacLaine, the Queen), she dreams of a world far away from rural East Yorkshire, a world of glamour lived under the bright lights of London (or Leeds). Standing in the way of these dreams, though, is Christine, Evie’s soon-to-be stepmother, a manipulative and money-grubbing schemer who is lining Evie up for a life of shampoo-and-set drudgery at the stinky local salon.