Yesterday’s Houses – Mavis Cheek

You note there is no handy-dandy little Amazon picture next to this one; I picked it up at Heathrow, and it’s available only in England. It’s too bad. This was a lovely little novel–apparently Mavis Cheek is big on the other side of the pond. I get the feeling based on past titles and the somewhat too-catchy title that this novel represents a departure from her previous books. Anyone know? In any case, the novel follows the life of her hapless heroine as told through a history of the crummy houses she lives in. It’s full of pithy insight and penetrating observations, and if you can get ahold of a copy, I think you may be reminded of a British Ann Tyler.