Happy Birthday And All That
“And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife
And you may ask yourself, ‘Well, how did I get here?’”
– Once in A Lifetime by Talking Heads.
Posy has always dreamt of being the heroine of a Francoise Sagan novel, but life seems to be passing her by and now here she is, a stressed-out mother of four. Although she’s married to a man called Parouselli who comes from a long line of trapeze artists and they live in a large, romantic house, it’s not quite as magical as it sounds. The house is falling to bits and there are slugs living under the bath. Perhaps Posy needs to be more like her sister Flora, who runs a decluttering business, Perfect Solutions.
Frank’s dream of being a musician is a reality of distributing BettaKleen catalogues and helping out in his parents’ greetings card shop. After a one-night stand with Melody, the singer with his band, The Wild Years, there’s another baby on the way. Happy Birthday And All That is about a year in the life of a family on the brink of falling apart.
‘A cruelly funny novel about self-delusion. Sharp, witty and clever.’
– Sunday Mirror.
‘She’s wise, sharp, funny in her observation of domesticity versus dreams – and has that rare gift of kindness even as she wields the scalpel on feckless husbands and blinkered young wives. A class act.’
– Mavis Cheek.
‘Smith’s wry, bitter-sweet comedy of disappointed life is hugely appealing.’
– Marie Claire.
