The queen of the black-hearted soap opera is back! We've all done it!told a tiny white lie that has grown so out of control that we find ourselves committed to moving house to another country, leaving our husband, becoming a missionary, doing anything - ANYTHING! - to stop people from discovering the truth. Living on the upwardly mobile Prendergast Road, nestled deep in Nappy Valley, Kate Hudson's particular truth is that her son has just been rejected by the only decent school in the neighbourhood and so is doomed to a life of crime, drugs and being shunned by everyone else on the street. And she might, just might, be guilty of sometimes, in moments of extreme pressure, forgetting she has a daughter, a bundle of screaming, excreting noise called Flo! Not to mention that she doesn't always buy Fair Trade coffee, she sometimes isn't as nice to her husband as she ought to be, and she's convinced that one day all this will come crashing down around her ears. But Kate never has a spare moment to stop to think that, beneath the perfect sheen of her friends' and neighbours' amazingly trouble-free lives, beneath the freshly-ironed shirts and organic home-grown veg, lies the same half-truths, the same uncertainties and the same desperation to keep up with the Joneses - who just happen to be her. Sarah May is an intimate observer of society (AKA curtain-twitcher of the highest order) and her novel is an hilariously dark-hearted soap opera of our everyday lives. In a society that always strives to be more organic, less carbon-polluting, more virtuous than any other, 'The Fall and Rise of the Domestic Diva' is a breath of fresh air (imported from the mountains of Nepal and filtered organically for purity, of course. A snip at only GBP6.99.). Lead title / A darkly comic tale of keeping up appearances in modern day suburbia - a British 'Desperate Housewives', perfect for fans of Alison Pearson, Sue Townsend and Carol Clewlow / Sarah May's debut novel, The Rise and Fall of the Queen of Suburbia, sold 50k copies in paperback original and spent four weeks in the Bookseller's Heatseekers chart / Sarah was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and the Encore Award / Review coverage across national press and magazines / Competition: Sue Townsend; Jonathan Coe; Carol Clewlow, Fiona Neill, Allison Pearson
Sarah May lives in London with her theatre director husband Benjamin May and their son.
Praise for The Rise and Fall of the Queen of Suburbia: 'May's shrewd sideways glance makes this a novel moving and menacing by turns' Observer 'Sarah May has a rare talent for melding the farcical with the tragic, and has produced a novel which -- but for an ending worthy of Tom Sharpe -- is a scathingly successful piece of social commentary' Daily Mail 'Sarah May has brought the obsessions, ambitions and class paranoia of Thatcher's Britain beautifully back to life. It's a visceral read, but this is one book you'll be happy to read in a rush' Daily Express 'Full of hilarious pop-culture detail, this is a dizzying celebration of the 80s!Laugh-out-loud' Eve Magazine 'Like Mike Leigh directing Desperate Housewives; a brilliantly 1980s suburban drama' Elle Magazine More praise for Queen of Suburbia: 'Truly original chick-lit' Heat 'An observant and side-splittingly funny read' Sun 'May's shrewd sideways glance makes this a novel moving and menacing by turns. Her ensemble -- aerobics-obsessed Linda, rebellious Dominique, the creepy Niemans -- are often gruesome, but all too convincing' Observer 'A truly witty page turner packed with recognition and intelligence -- both moving and utterly hilarious' Helen Lederer 'A witty and wicked soap opera about death, adultery and desperate housewives' Instyle magazine 'Steeped in intrigue and comic detail' Woman Praise for Sarah May and her books: 'The best book I have read in years!quite incredible' Time Out 'Sarah May's descriptive skills are excellent and she has a wonderfully observant eye for detail' Independent 'An extraordinary novel!This is writing at the level of myth: fully formed, recognisable, unique' Guardian 'May's achievements are mildly miraculous. She is a novelist through and through' Independent on Sunday 'A compelling work of fiction' Spectator
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