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  • INTERVIEWS PAGE 1
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    • SUE CLARK
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    • LILY IONA MACKENZIE
  • INTERVIEWS PAGE 2
    • FRAN HILL
    • JACQUI CASTLE
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    • RON IMPEY
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    • NIKKI DUDLEY
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    • TOM ATKINS
    • JADI CAMPBELL
    • CHRISTOPHER BOWDEN
    • ANTHONY NEIL SMITH
    • A. A. CHAUDHURI
  • INTERVIEWS PAGE 3
    • JON RICHTER
    • CAROLYN HUGHES
    • TRISH MORAN
    • MADELINE DEWHURST
    • JEFF POLLAK
    • LOUISE FEIN
    • A. B. KYAZZE
    • JACK BYRNE
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    • SAM BLAKE
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    • DOUGLAS SKELTON
    • LOUISE MUMFORD
    • PHILIP HENRY
    • HAZEL PRIOR
  • INTERVIEWS PAGE 4
    • JANINA DAVID
    • LAUREN EMILY WHALEN
    • LAURA E. GOODIN
    • SIMON VAN DER VELDE
    • DR. MANUEL MATAS
    • JANE BETTANY
    • REGINA PUCKETT
    • S. G. M. ASHCROFT
    • PAM LECKY
    • MICHELE KWASNIEWSKI
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    • ROBERT CRAVEN
    • JOHN DARLING
    • RICHARD DEE
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    • DIANA STEVAN
    • BRADLEY HARPER
    • PAUL GITSHAM
    • SION SCOTT-WILSON
    • JOHN DEAN
  • INTERVIEWS PAGE 5
    • LIZ MARTINSON
    • C. J. CARVER
    • TONY J. FORDER
    • SHARRON L. MILLER
    • PATRICK OSBORNE
    • PETER TURNHAM
    • JUDE LENNON
    • ANNA HOLMES
    • CHRIS CALDER
    • JANE BUCKLEY
    • RACHEL BRIMBLE
    • GAIL ALDWIN
    • ANNE COATES
    • IAN RIDDLE
    • CHRISTINA HAMLETT
    • JAMES MORGAN-JONES
    • SUE WICKSTEAD
    • ALISON HUNTINGFORD
    • GILA GREEN
    • HELEN PRYKE
  • INTERVIEWS PAGE 6
    • EMILYA NAYMARK
    • MARCIA CLAYTON
    • JAMES L'ETOILE
    • EDWARD TRAYER
    • MARK LEICHLITER
    • BERNETA L. HAYNES
    • LINDSAY J. SEDGWICK
    • DAVID LISCIO
    • KATE REYNOLDS
    • H. C. DENHAM
    • PATERSON LOARN
  • RECOMMENDED READS
    • THE UPRIGHT PIANO PLAYER BY DAVID ABBOTT
    • 'ROOM 15' BY CHARLES HARRIS
    • 'MISS, WHAT DOES INCOMPREHENSIBLE MEAN?' BY FRAN HILL
    • THE TRUE ADVENTURES OF GIDON LEV
    • NOTE TO BOY BY SUE CLARK
    • A VERY ENGLISH SCANDAL
    • BLACKWATERTOWN BY PAUL WATERS
    • BENEATH A SCARLET SKY
    • PANTHEON BY SAM BOURNE
    • C: BECAUSE COWARDS GET CANCER TOO BY JOHN DIAMOND
    • THEN ALONG CAME RUDY BY SAM SCHICHTER
    • LIGHT FROM OTHER WINDOWS BY CHRIS CHALMERS
    • 'THE UNMARRIAGEABLE MAN' BY ASHOK FERREY
    • 'METHOD' BY PHILIP HENRY
    • OPERATION MINCEMEAT
    • The Curious Rise of Alex Lazarus by Adam Leigh
  • ALEX'S BLOG
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  • Untitled

Note to Boy
​by Sue Clark
​

Picture
Sue Clark's charming debut is a little gem of a book.

This delightful romp by comedy writer Sue Clark is an engaging, funny, and poignant read. It brings together two unlikely characters in the form of the theatrical and slightly cantankerous old dear, Eloise Slaughter, and the 17-year-old Bradley McCreedy. Eloise Slaughter, the one-time fashionista, ‘style supremo’ and ‘fashion phenomenon’ of Carnaby street in the swinging 60s, is an energetic old bird with a penchant for more malapropisms and spoonerisms than most of us have had hot dinners. And her sparring partner Bradley McCreedy who she lures as a ‘domestic assistant’ via a card in the local newsagent, is a teenager from the rougher side of Kilburn. The narrative is conveyed by both these characters in their respective voices.
What McCreedy lacks in grammar and diction, he more than makes up for with his obsessive need to tidy. And there is plenty of tidying to do, as the old lady’s abode is in a pretty hideous state by all accounts. His other duty is to help the old girl write her biography by providing an attentive ear and a ‘digital whatsit’ to record her memoirs.
McCreedy may not be a saint and isn’t averse to pilfering money from his employee, but his fondness for her grows over time and his tenacity and wits prove to be precisely what Eloise Slaughter needs if she is to rise once more like the phoenix from the ashes.
'Note to Boy' reminded me a little of 'Harold and Maud', only in that the two characters are of similar age. But here the comparison ends. With 'Note to Boy', the dialogue is far funnier and the narrative has a great deal more depth. And as with all great comedy, there is a tenderness and poignancy to both of these well-drawn characters.
Sue Clark’s debut is a little gem and will appeal to anyone who enjoys the joy of language - particularly when it has been dragged through a hedge backwards by the book’s elderly protagonist. It would, dare I say it, make a wonderful stage play.

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  • Home
  • About
  • BOOKSHELF
    • REVIEWS
    • TRAILERS & READINGS
  • INTERVIEWS PAGE 1
    • PAUL WATERS
    • JESSICA NORRIE
    • DAVID F. ROSS
    • DREMA DRUDGE
    • CHRIS CHALMERS
    • MARK FARRER
    • SUE CLARK
    • HANNAH TOVEY
    • BELINDA HUNT
    • GLYNN HOLLOWAY
    • MARK EKLID
    • JANE RISDON
    • CHARLES HARRIS
    • GRANT PRICE
    • L. C. TYLER
    • MALCOLM KNOTT
    • ASHOK FERREY
    • JULIAN DUTTON
    • P. J. ROSCOE
    • PRAMUDITH D. RUPASINGHE
    • LILY IONA MACKENZIE
  • INTERVIEWS PAGE 2
    • FRAN HILL
    • JACQUI CASTLE
    • IAN CRITCHLEY
    • RON IMPEY
    • C. J. BOOTH
    • NIKKI DUDLEY
    • JENNIFER IRWIN
    • BETH DUKE
    • VICKI OLSEN
    • PETE LANGMAN
    • PAULINE MORGAN
    • JONATHAN PEACE
    • SANDY MANNING
    • SHELLEY WILSON
    • REBECCA MARSH
    • ALAN GIBBONS
    • FIONA MORGAN
    • TOM ATKINS
    • JADI CAMPBELL
    • CHRISTOPHER BOWDEN
    • ANTHONY NEIL SMITH
    • A. A. CHAUDHURI
  • INTERVIEWS PAGE 3
    • JON RICHTER
    • CAROLYN HUGHES
    • TRISH MORAN
    • MADELINE DEWHURST
    • JEFF POLLAK
    • LOUISE FEIN
    • A. B. KYAZZE
    • JACK BYRNE
    • M. A. HUNTER
    • TESSA HARRIS
    • M. J. MALLON
    • P. R. BLACK
    • NINA SODEN
    • BILL ARNOTT
    • E. CHRIS AMBROSE
    • SAM BLAKE
    • PAUL KANE
    • DOUGLAS SKELTON
    • LOUISE MUMFORD
    • PHILIP HENRY
    • HAZEL PRIOR
  • INTERVIEWS PAGE 4
    • JANINA DAVID
    • LAUREN EMILY WHALEN
    • LAURA E. GOODIN
    • SIMON VAN DER VELDE
    • DR. MANUEL MATAS
    • JANE BETTANY
    • REGINA PUCKETT
    • S. G. M. ASHCROFT
    • PAM LECKY
    • MICHELE KWASNIEWSKI
    • JUDY STANIGAR
    • ROBERT CRAVEN
    • JOHN DARLING
    • RICHARD DEE
    • SOPHY LAYZELL
    • LORNA DOUNAEVA
    • DIANA STEVAN
    • BRADLEY HARPER
    • PAUL GITSHAM
    • SION SCOTT-WILSON
    • JOHN DEAN
  • INTERVIEWS PAGE 5
    • LIZ MARTINSON
    • C. J. CARVER
    • TONY J. FORDER
    • SHARRON L. MILLER
    • PATRICK OSBORNE
    • PETER TURNHAM
    • JUDE LENNON
    • ANNA HOLMES
    • CHRIS CALDER
    • JANE BUCKLEY
    • RACHEL BRIMBLE
    • GAIL ALDWIN
    • ANNE COATES
    • IAN RIDDLE
    • CHRISTINA HAMLETT
    • JAMES MORGAN-JONES
    • SUE WICKSTEAD
    • ALISON HUNTINGFORD
    • GILA GREEN
    • HELEN PRYKE
  • INTERVIEWS PAGE 6
    • EMILYA NAYMARK
    • MARCIA CLAYTON
    • JAMES L'ETOILE
    • EDWARD TRAYER
    • MARK LEICHLITER
    • BERNETA L. HAYNES
    • LINDSAY J. SEDGWICK
    • DAVID LISCIO
    • KATE REYNOLDS
    • H. C. DENHAM
    • PATERSON LOARN
  • RECOMMENDED READS
    • THE UPRIGHT PIANO PLAYER BY DAVID ABBOTT
    • 'ROOM 15' BY CHARLES HARRIS
    • 'MISS, WHAT DOES INCOMPREHENSIBLE MEAN?' BY FRAN HILL
    • THE TRUE ADVENTURES OF GIDON LEV
    • NOTE TO BOY BY SUE CLARK
    • A VERY ENGLISH SCANDAL
    • BLACKWATERTOWN BY PAUL WATERS
    • BENEATH A SCARLET SKY
    • PANTHEON BY SAM BOURNE
    • C: BECAUSE COWARDS GET CANCER TOO BY JOHN DIAMOND
    • THEN ALONG CAME RUDY BY SAM SCHICHTER
    • LIGHT FROM OTHER WINDOWS BY CHRIS CHALMERS
    • 'THE UNMARRIAGEABLE MAN' BY ASHOK FERREY
    • 'METHOD' BY PHILIP HENRY
    • OPERATION MINCEMEAT
    • The Curious Rise of Alex Lazarus by Adam Leigh
  • ALEX'S BLOG
  • Articles for Huffington Post
  • FREE BOOKS
  • CONTACT
  • Untitled