The Miseducation of Evie Epworth

I wish to thank Matson Taylor, Simon & Schuster Australia and NetGalley for the advanced copy of The Miseducation of Evie Epworth in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fun read, I anticipated a laugh and it delivered charmingly. Set in the early 1960s in Yorkshire our protagonist Evie has recently completed O levels and is considering her future life. Evie is bright, reads deeply and engages with her adult neighbour. There is unique writing throughout the novel, parentheses are used widely and there are shifts in time. The characters are mostly very likeable, the Yorkshire wit and language shines through.

I recommend this to anyone who enjoys the humour of the North of England, a great read for young adults.

What a charming and delightful read this was! Full of laugh out loud moments as well as gentle humour as Evie Epworth navigates the minefields of finishing school and becoming a Woman.

We first meet Evie in 1962, "as old as the hills (16 and a half), as tall as a tree (5ft 11) and as wise as time (perhaps)", just after completing her O-levels and suffering her first hangover, as she races through the countryside in her father's (Off-Limits) MG roadster delivering milk in the Yorkshire countryside. "Soaring and plunging, I am unstoppable. A force of nature. A wild wind-faerie. Will becoming a Woman always feel like this?"

She is anticipating the future and wondering where life will take her. She could go back to school and do her A-levels but what she really wants is an exciting and glamorous career. Evie's mother died when she was a baby, so she only has her father Arthur to advise her. He is content for her to stay on the farm and marry a farmer and besides, is somewhat distracted by their live-in housekeeper, the pink clad, buxom 24 year old Christine (lover of knick-knacks, modern appliances, "Mantovani LPs, drinking Babycham and wearing cleavage-bolstering dresses"). Christine thinks Evie should become a hairdresser or bus conductress (anything to get her out of the house as soon as possible). Her best friend Margaret is no help as she has her sights set on A-levels and a sensible future as a teacher. She's tried talking to her posters of Adam Faith (brooding Adam and sophisticated Adam) in her bedroom, but so far hasn't received any insights from him. Fortunately she has her neighbour, the elderly and stylish Mrs Scott-Pym whose house is a sanctuary for Evie as well as a source of good books and delicious home baked cakes. She was also a friend of Evie's mother and provides Evie with a good sounding board for her problems with Christine and her desire to save her father from her clutches.

Written as a diary from Evie's point of view, this is a wonderful coming of age story, intelligently and delightfully written, infused with humour and original and wonderful characters. As a 60s teenager growing up on a farm, Evie is fresh and naive with an unrestrained zest for life and a character to cheer on as she strives towards her future. Highly recommended!

🐮 Book Review 🐮

The Miseducation of Evie Epworth by Matson Taylor was such an enjoyable read full of wonderful humour and wit.

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Synopsis

July, 1962
 
Sixteen year-old Evie Epworth stands on the cusp of womanhood. But what kind of a woman will she become?
 
The fastest milk bottle-delivery girl in East Yorkshire, Evie is tall as a tree and hot as the desert sand. She dreams of an independent life lived under the bright lights of London (or Leeds). The two posters of Adam Faith on her bedroom wall (‘brooding Adam’ and ‘sophisticated Adam’) offer wise counsel about a future beyond rural East Yorkshire. Her role models are Charlotte Bronte, Shirley MacLaine and the Queen. But, before she can decide on a career, she must first deal with the malign presence of her future step-mother, the manipulative and money-grubbing Christine.
 
If Evie can rescue her bereaved father, Arthur, from Christine’s pink and over-perfumed clutches, and save the farmhouse from being sold off then maybe she can move on with her own life and finally work out exactly who it is she is meant to be.

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The book is written in the first person, diary style, with Evie recounting the events and encounters, I found her internal monologue quite amusing, her random thoughts and tangents are quite funny. I absolutely loved the characters, especially Evie, I even liked to horrid ones like Christina and her mother. This would have to be one of my top reads for the year!

A big thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Australia for advancing me a copy to read.

This one hits shelves in Australia in early August!

What a delight! Thoroughly enjoyed The Education of Evie Epworth! Evie is a sassy, bookish sixteen year old being raised by her father, a farmer in Yorkshire, after her mother died when she was a baby. The housekeeper, Christine and her mother, Vera are entangling themselves into the household and up to no good. Evie’s adventures are told with great humour, so many laugh out loud moments and secrets to unveil. I just couldn’t put it down!