The Queen of the Tambourine

Winner of the Whitbread Prize for Best Novel of the Year: "Gardam's portrait of an insanely imaginative woman in an elusive midlife crisis is impeccably drawn" ( The Seattle Times). With prose that is vibrant and witty, The Queen of the Tambourine traces the emotional breakdown—and eventual restoration—of Eliza Peabody, a smart and wildly imaginative woman who has become unbearably isolated in her prosperous London neighborhood. The letters Eliza writes to her neighbor, a woman whom she hardly knows, reveal her self-propelled descent into madness. Eliza must reach the depths of her downward spiral before she can once again find health and serenity. This story of a woman's confrontation with the realities of sanity will delight readers who enjoy the works of Anita Brookner, Sybille Bedford, Muriel Spark, and Sylvia Plath. "Excellently done . . . Manic delusions have never been so persuasive . . . Very moving when it is not being exceedingly funny." —Anita Brookner, award-winning author of The Debut "British author Gardam, who won the Whitbread Award for this jigsaw puzzle of a novel, keeps up the suspense to the end, writing like a sorceress in the meantime." — The Seattle Times "Brilliant." — The Sunday Times "An ingenious, funny, satirical, sad story . . . Vivid and poignant." — The Independent on Sunday "Wickedly comic . . . masterly and hugely enjoyable." — Daily Mail "Marvelously subtle and moving." — The Times (London)