Meeting the English

Kate Clanchy Press Reviews

'With wit and zest, Clanchy creates social comedy out of teeth-clenching situations ... Clanchy's trenchant, often very funny prose also shimmers with sensual pleasures ... Meeting the English is a richly conceived, original and very entertaining novel.'
Guardian

'A comedy of manners with a sharp edge ... With its cast of artsy, highly strung, badly behaved north Londoners, Meeting the English feels like an updated Iris Murdoch novel, with sharper haircuts and more Laura Ashley furnishings.'
Independent on Sunday

'A charming comic novel with an appealing lightness of touch'
Literary Review

'Meeting the English is a comedy of manners and a comedy of morals ... [it] has a frothy charm. Moreover, in the rather appalling Myfanwy, Clanchy presents us with a character whom it is a pleasure to meet in a novel, though one would fly from her in real life.'
Scotsman

'Lacerating social observation mixed with Shakespearean comedy powers Kate Clanchy's first novel ... her agility with language makes the sentences shimmer.'
Sunday Telegraph

'An exceptional first novel ... Clanchy switches multi-viewpoints adroitly ... she has a wincingly accurate eye for social comedy, a vivid descriptive sense, and profound understanding of her characters. This is a delectable read -- it should certainly be on one or more of this year's awards lists.'
Daily Mail

'What unfolds is a long, hot summer with more than a little Midsummer Night's Dream about it. The gloriously heady heat, high-running tempers and emotions are offset by the cool lightness of Clanchy's prose, shot through with a wonderfully refreshing comedic breeze. Meeting the English is an utter delight.'
Observer

'Felicity Wood finds Kate Clanchy's literary debut, Meeting the English, to be a charming and comedic coming-of-age novel ... very funny indeed; a literary novel that manages to pack an irreverent punch and take a wry look at the fashion and sensibilities of the late 1980s.'
Bookseller