Review: The Miseducation of Evie Epworth by Matson Taylor

Readers are in for a treat with The Miseducation of Evie Epworth, a hilarious debut with a big heart by Matson Taylor. The year is 1962 and Yorkshire dwelling Evie has just completed her O levels. She's also had  well, a bit of a celebration which has caused her to be late to start the morning milk run. But not to worry, instead of taking her bike, she'll just borrow her father's MG and do the whole thing quickly and in style. This particular adventure ends in a hilarious fashion (for reasons the reader will soon discover,) and sets up this quirky novel about a sixteen year old girl who is trying to find herself. Which, quite frankly, isn't easy when her mother died when she was six months old and now her otherwise kind and sensible father, Arthur, has fallen hard for Christine, a scheming woman who would put Snow White's stepmother to shame. And now that Arthur and Christine are engaged Evie knows she must put a stop to it, but first she needs some help from her neighbours, the kindly Mrs Scott-Prym and her mysterious but oh-so glamorous daughter Caroline. 

This book was a lot of fun from the first page, and had me smiling in a number of places throughout--a certain adventure with a button stands out as a real highlight. In Christine, the author has created a character that I loved to hate, while Mrs Scott-Prym, Caroline and even Elise created the perfect antidote to these horrible woman and provided the lovely Evie with some much needed support. The flashbacks work well within the context of the story--never too long--and provided some much needed background detail. Overall, this is an excellent read, fun and funny with a little bit of sadness sprinkled in there.

Highly recommended.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster Australia for my copy.   

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