Man at the Helm by Nina Stibbe
Not long after her parents' separation, heralded by an awkward scene involving a wet Daily Telegraph and a pan of cold eggs, nine-year-old Lizzie Vogel, her sister and little brother and their now divorcee mother are packed off to a small, slightly hostile village in the English countryside.
All hail a book that's funny! -- Barbara Trapido
I can't remember a book that made me laugh more. . At times [it] reminded me of Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle. Man at the Helm is a winner - It even trumps Love, Nina * Observer *
[A] joyous read, full of wit and charm . . . I am already longing for Nina Stibbe's next book * Express *
A wicked anatomising of a dysfunctional family . . . Buoyantly comic: farcical yet tender; rude with a forgiving sweetness * Spectator *
Nine-year-old Lizzie (our narrator) is the perfect conduit for her creator, just the right mixture of childhood innocence and incredulity for the necessary deadpan delivery of Stibbe's particular brand of comedy. Read it and be charmed * Independent *
Fantastic. Comical, moving and brilliantly evocative of British childhood * Glamour *
A beguilingly comic blend of naivety and precociousness * Sunday Times *
Within a few pages I was completely caught up in the lives of Lizzie and her family . . . I couldn't have loved it more -- Lisa Jewell
This book is very, very funny. Stibbe has a fine eye for absurdity, and her writing has an unforced charm. [And] there is real darkness here, which makes the humour shimmer all the more * Independent on Sunday *
Convincingly childlike but also confidently witty . . . Stibbe's feat is to remain unsentimentally barbed while subtly and triumphantly demonstrating the value of the kind of understated love found within the strangest and least obviously functional families * Daily Telegraph *
Fans of Love, Nina will not be disappointed. Amusing, the writing is never less than accomplished * Daily Mail *
I realised I would always love this book . . . it's a comedy classic. if you loved I Capture the Castle you will love this . . . In Stibbe's hands I laughed hard, page after page. Brisk, ruthless, understated, English comedy gold * The Times *
Stibbe's talent for comic understatement is given a wonderful airing here . . . Man at the Helm is an unusual and deft work. In Stibbe, Leicester has produced a fine chronicler of the comedic potential of provincial English life and its sometimes baffling mores * Financial Times *
One of 2013's most acclaimed debuts was the hilarious Love, Nina, letters Nina wrote while working as a nanny . . . Man at the Helm shares their sense of period and comedy * Metro *
Man at the Helm presents us with a family up close, in all its absurdity, particularity and intensely felt drama. Stibbe scores many hits with this undoubtedly funny setup: her ear for off-kilter dialogue is as brilliantly tuned as it was in Love, Nina; and she is a maestro of bathos, continually undercutting vivid gaiety with moments of horrible sadness. * Guardian *
Highly entertaining . . . A real delight * Mail on Sunday *
Stibbe's deadpan tone and sharp eye for detail are given even more chance to shine. The genuis touch is Lizzie's voice: her observations feel as age-appropriate as they are idiosyncratic and as heartbreaking as they are hilarious * Stylist *
Riveting and laugh-out-loud hilarious * Look *
Wonderfully funny and sparky. We loved it * Bella *
Delightful. Full of wit and warmth * Prima *
It's hard to imagine a more uniquely, charmingly and hilariously dysfunctional bunch . . . a deeply affectionate hymn to the sheer insanity of family life * The Lady *
Man at the Helm has understandably drawn comparisons to Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle, another thoroughly charming British novel of domestic life narrated by a young girl. More than 65 years after it was published, Ms. Smith's book still enchants a sizable cult of readers. Ms. Stibbe's novel is made of the same timeless material, making it easy to imagine that it will enjoy just as long a life * New York Times *
I can't remember a book that made me laugh more. . At times [it] reminded me of Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle. Man at the Helm is a winner - It even trumps Love, Nina * Observer *
[A] joyous read, full of wit and charm . . . I am already longing for Nina Stibbe's next book * Express *
A wicked anatomising of a dysfunctional family . . . Buoyantly comic: farcical yet tender; rude with a forgiving sweetness * Spectator *
Nine-year-old Lizzie (our narrator) is the perfect conduit for her creator, just the right mixture of childhood innocence and incredulity for the necessary deadpan delivery of Stibbe's particular brand of comedy. Read it and be charmed * Independent *
Fantastic. Comical, moving and brilliantly evocative of British childhood * Glamour *
A beguilingly comic blend of naivety and precociousness * Sunday Times *
Within a few pages I was completely caught up in the lives of Lizzie and her family . . . I couldn't have loved it more -- Lisa Jewell
This book is very, very funny. Stibbe has a fine eye for absurdity, and her writing has an unforced charm. [And] there is real darkness here, which makes the humour shimmer all the more * Independent on Sunday *
Convincingly childlike but also confidently witty . . . Stibbe's feat is to remain unsentimentally barbed while subtly and triumphantly demonstrating the value of the kind of understated love found within the strangest and least obviously functional families * Daily Telegraph *
Fans of Love, Nina will not be disappointed. Amusing, the writing is never less than accomplished * Daily Mail *
I realised I would always love this book . . . it's a comedy classic. if you loved I Capture the Castle you will love this . . . In Stibbe's hands I laughed hard, page after page. Brisk, ruthless, understated, English comedy gold * The Times *
Stibbe's talent for comic understatement is given a wonderful airing here . . . Man at the Helm is an unusual and deft work. In Stibbe, Leicester has produced a fine chronicler of the comedic potential of provincial English life and its sometimes baffling mores * Financial Times *
One of 2013's most acclaimed debuts was the hilarious Love, Nina, letters Nina wrote while working as a nanny . . . Man at the Helm shares their sense of period and comedy * Metro *
Man at the Helm presents us with a family up close, in all its absurdity, particularity and intensely felt drama. Stibbe scores many hits with this undoubtedly funny setup: her ear for off-kilter dialogue is as brilliantly tuned as it was in Love, Nina; and she is a maestro of bathos, continually undercutting vivid gaiety with moments of horrible sadness. * Guardian *
Highly entertaining . . . A real delight * Mail on Sunday *
Stibbe's deadpan tone and sharp eye for detail are given even more chance to shine. The genuis touch is Lizzie's voice: her observations feel as age-appropriate as they are idiosyncratic and as heartbreaking as they are hilarious * Stylist *
Riveting and laugh-out-loud hilarious * Look *
Wonderfully funny and sparky. We loved it * Bella *
Delightful. Full of wit and warmth * Prima *
It's hard to imagine a more uniquely, charmingly and hilariously dysfunctional bunch . . . a deeply affectionate hymn to the sheer insanity of family life * The Lady *
Man at the Helm has understandably drawn comparisons to Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle, another thoroughly charming British novel of domestic life narrated by a young girl. More than 65 years after it was published, Ms. Smith's book still enchants a sizable cult of readers. Ms. Stibbe's novel is made of the same timeless material, making it easy to imagine that it will enjoy just as long a life * New York Times *
Nina Stibbe was born in Leicester. She is the author of two works of non-fiction - Love, Nina and An Almost Perfect Christmas - and two novels: Man at the Helm and Paradise Lodge, both of which were shortlisted for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction. Love, Nina won Non-Fiction Book of the Year at the 2014 National Book Awards and in 2016 was adapted by Nick Hornby into a BBC series starring Faye Marsay and Helena Bonham-Carter. She lives in Cornwall.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780241003152 |
| ISBN 10 | 0241003156 |
| Title | Man at the Helm |
| Author | Nina Stibbe |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Penguin Books Ltd |
| Year published | 2014-08-28 |
| Number of pages | 320 |
| Prizes | Short-listed for Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize 2015 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |