{"product_id":"shy-creatures-the-extraordinary-novel-about-family-love-and-freedom-from-the-bestselling-author-of-small-pleasures","title":"Shy Creatures: The ‘extraordinary’ novel about family, love and freedom from the bestselling author of Small Pleasures","description":"\u003cp\u003eFROM THE AUTHOR OF BESTSELLING SENSATION SMALL PLEASURES COMES AN EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF LOVE, FAMILY AND THE JOY OF FREEDOM.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e''Clare Chambers is a genius'' INDIA KNIGHT\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e''Just as good - if not better - than Small Pleasures'' INDEPENDENT\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e''As compelling as you want fiction to be'' SUNDAY TIMES\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e''One of our most talented authors'' GUARDIAN\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e''Extraordinary'' FINANCIAL TIMES\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt all started the weekend the Hidden Man came to Westbury Park . . .\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCroydon, 1964. Art therapist Helen Hansford is working in a psychiatric hospital, where she has been having passionate but precarious affair with her married colleague, the charismatic Dr Gil Rudden.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHelen''s structured life is upended when William Tapping - a silent, thirty-seven-year-old man with a beard down to his waist - arrives at the hospital. As Helen helps William express himself through art, she becomes increasingly entangled in his mysterious past.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eInspired by a true story, Shy Creatures is a life-affirming exploration of loneliness, love and the quiet forces that shape our lives, reminding us that freedom can come in unexpected forms.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e''Reading a Clare Chambers novel can feel like entering a modest bungalow and finding yourself in a cathedral'' SUNDAY TIMES\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e''A warm, multilayered mystery with all the charms of Small Pleasures'' i PAPER\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e''A lively, funny, forgiving novel'' PATRICK GALE\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e''Chambers is such a humane writer and this novel is full of exquisite detail'' EVENING STANDARD\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e''A beautiful story of unfolding secrets and unforeseen consequences'' HOLLY GRAMAZIO, author of THE HUSBANDS\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e*Small Pleasures was a Silver Award bestseller according to Nielsen BookScan UK, 10 November 2023\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Scribe \u0026 Sign","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57375419662601,"sku":"9781399602563","price":5.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0884\/0845\/7481\/files\/9781399602563.jpg?v=1791196901","url":"https:\/\/scribe-sign.com\/products\/shy-creatures-the-extraordinary-novel-about-family-love-and-freedom-from-the-bestselling-author-of-small-pleasures","provider":"Scribe \u0026 Sign","version":"1.0","type":"link"}