A Far Cry from Kensington

Loved this so much! Funny, and sharply written with a great plot and a fantastic protagonist. Mrs Hawkins describes her life as an editor living in London in the mid-1950s; the publishing houses, the writers and the people who live in the flats around her. In particular, the fight she has with a terrible writer which drives the plot. I love how Mrs Hawkins is unapologetically fat. There is no guilt or shame about her weight, and no hand-wringing which makes her decide to lose weight. She's practical and unsentimental and doesn't feel the need to fit into any mould. Definitely going to be looking to read more Spark in the future.