Susan and Norma meet while working in a haberdashery shop in small-town Leicestershire in the 1990s. The pair hit it off instantly, so Susan is surprised when the owner, who also happens to be Norma’s mother, assures her they’ll never be true friends.
As it turns out, awkward, single-minded Norma is there to exploit Susan’s literary acumen. She’s studied geology as an undergrad and is keen to switch to the arts for her masters; handily, Susan is a year into her own degree in English literature. While it seems destined to be forever shaped by its lopsided, transactional beginnings, they do indeed strike up a friendship, one that will endure for the next 30 years, its ebbs and flows shaping Nina Stibbe’s new novel as the women navigate marriage, motherhood and ambition.
