Bestselling writer India Knight explores the inevitable panic that family and Christmas bring in her third novel Comfort and Joy.

'I'd say Christmas was about hope. Yeah. Hope. And optimism. It's like the fairy tales in the window: for families, every Christmas is a new opportunity for Happy Ever After. No pressure, then...'

Oxford Street, two shopping days left to Christmas, and wife and mum Clara Dunphy is desperately, madly trying to make everything, not perfect, but just right for her extended family on the greatest day of the year. But then she gets distracted. . .

'Will make you laugh, maybe make you cry and keep you reading past bedtime' Lauren Laverne, Grazia

'A hilarious, bawdy, yet touching portrait of Christmas' Jilly Cooper, Guardian

'Hilarious and honest; the dialogue is sitcom-snappy and the opening scenes in Oxford Street positively Joycean' Daily Mail

India Knight is the author of four novels: My Life on a Plate, Don't You Want Me, Comfort and Joy and Mutton. Her non-fiction books include The Shops, the bestselling diet book Neris and India's Idiot-Proof Diet, the accompanying bestselling cookbook Neris and India's Idiot-Proof Diet Cookbook and The Thrift Book. India is a columnist for the Sunday Times and lives in London with her three children.Follow India on Twitter @indiaknight or on her blog at http://indiaknight.tumblr.com.

About the Author
India Knight is the author of two previous novels: My Life on a Plate and Don't You Want Me. Her non-fiction books include The Shops, the bestselling diet book Neris and India's Idiot-Proof Diet, the accompanying bestselling cookbook Neris and India's Idiot-Proof Diet Cookbook and The Thrift Book. India is a columnist for the Sunday Times and lives in London with her three children.

Reviews
Breathless, colourful, hilarious and honest; the dialogue is sitcom-snappy and the opening scenes in Oxford Street positively Joycean -- Wendy Holden * Daily Mail *
So kindly and funny and affectionate that you could probably warm your hands on it. Miraculously, this is a feel-good story that manages not to be saccharine. There are a great many good jokes here . . . but concealed amid the fun, like silver coins in a Christmas pudding, is a serious theme. This is a book you could safely give to practically anyone. Snap up plenty of copies to hand around under the tree * Spectator *
I loved Comfort and Joy, a hilarious, bawdy yet touching portrait of Christmas over three years -- Jilly Cooper * Guardian Books of the Year *
Fabulous. Laugh-out-loud funny, moving and as cuddly as Santa Claus, this is perfect for snuggling up with over the Christmas holidays * Cosmopolitan *
Touching...it will make you laugh, maybe make you cry and keep you reading past bedtime -- Lauren Laverne * Grazia *
A wickedly funny, painfully honest look at families, festivities and romantic love * Marie Claire *
Tender, tough, schmaltzy, witty and heart-warming all at once. Knight has a great comic touch - there are some wonderfully rude bits and a fantastic rant about the ridiculous expectations piled on 21st-century women to be perfect - and writes with a deceptive lightness. At the heart of this funny, affectionate novel is an acknowledgement that families, like love, come in odd shapes and sizes, and that both matter more than anything * Metro *
Witty enough to make you laugh out loud, but there are moments of real emotion that keep the book from being too light * Psychologies *
A superb ear for dialogue...wonderfully comic * Evening Standard *
Riotously high in laughs and glamour. I defy a festive grump not to be cheered by it * Independent Books of the Year *
Fast-paced and funny * Women & Home *



Book Information
ISBN 9780141010953
Author India Knight
Format Paperback
Page Count 288
Imprint Penguin Books Ltd
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 200g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 15mm