Anne Youngson: Three Women and a Boat

Tender and humorous novel of second chances and life-changing new friendship for fans of Rachel Joyce, Clare Chambers and Barbara Pym Meet Eve, who has departed from her thirty-year career to become a Free Spirit; Sally, who has waved goodbye to her indifferent husband and two grown-up children; and Anastasia, a defiantly independent narrowboat-dweller, suddenly vulnerable as she awaits a life-saving operation. Inexperienced and ill-equipped, Sally and Eve embark upon a journey through the canals of England, guided by the remote and unsympathetic Anastasia. As they glide gently - and not so gently - through the countryside, the eccentricities and challenges of canalboat life draw them inexorably together, and a tender and unforgettable story unfolds. Disarmingly truthful and narrated with a rare wit, Three Women and a Boat is a journey over the glorious waterways of England and into the unfathomable depths of the human heart by an inspirational new talent now in her seventies.