Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers

LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTIONA BBC 2 'BETWEEN THE COVERS' BOOK CLUB PICK'Wonderful' RICHARD OSMAN'Perfect' INDIA KNIGHT'Beautiful' JESSIE BURTON'Witty and sharp' DAVID NICHOLLS1957, the suburbs of south east London. Jean Swinney is a journalist on a local paper, trapped in a life of duty and disappointment from which there is no likelihood of escape. When a young woman, Gretchen Tilbury, contacts the paper to claim that her daughter is the result of a virgin birth, it is down to Jean to discover whether she is a miracle or a fraud.