{"product_id":"the-girls-by-john-bowen","title":"The Girls by John Bowen","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eIn summer, and particularly when the wind blows south-west across the lawn, the sceptic tank gives out a strong stench… ‘Oh, it is a body,’ the girls say. ‘We have a body in there. No one you know. It decomposes, of course, but so slowly one quite despairs.’\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn their lovely, quiet Cotswolds village, Janet and Susan are known to the villagers simply as ‘the girls’. Partners in love and work, co-proprietors of a picturesque shop, they lead an enviable, enviably settled life.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBut when a moment of small, surprising passion intrudes into the equilibrium of their world, the girls’ lives take a deeply unsettling turn. First comes motherhood. Then comes murder.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePart-macabre comedy, part-crime thriller, part-cosy romance, John Bowen’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Girls\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is a novel like none other. Told with warmth, affection and fun, yet laced with darkness and unease, 'the girls' will ensure you never look on Middle England quite so quaintly again.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e‘Absolutely wicked’ Armistead Maupin\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘Startlingly offbeat’ Gore Vidal\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘[For] people who like Myra Breckinridge as well as Miss Marple; fans of Beryl Bainbridge, Russell Greenan and Patricia Highsmith; those who feel Barbara Pym-ish on some days and Stephen King-ish on others . . . The Girls charms us as only certain tales ‘of village life’ can’\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57172519551356,"sku":"9781529970982","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1427\/7594\/files\/New_20_d2641a11-f3df-408a-9754-88d07f383d33.png?v=1784043724","url":"https:\/\/shop.penguin.co.uk\/products\/the-girls-by-john-bowen","provider":"Penguin Shop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}