COVER STORY
One early frontrunner for cover of the year would be the UK paperback version of Hester Browne's The Finishing Touches, due on shelves in May, pictured left. The book about a woman who is tasked with giving a 21st century makeover to an English finishing school came out mid-2009 with the hardback cover, middle. The US paperback, right, is coming out late March. Chicklit Club crew member Paula liked the book so much she added it to our High Raters (see below). Browne reveals on the Simon & Schuster website how she arrived at the idea. "I was in Islington one Saturday morning, looking for a christening gift in a tiny silverware shop in the antiques quarter, when I came across the strangest bits and pieces of Victorian silverware. I had rather an old-fashioned nanny when I was little, so I knew my way around hinged leaf tea strainers and lemon squeezers, but I'd never seen some of the oddities here. I got chatting to the friendly owner . . . and she explained that these were sardine forks, and those were asparagus tongs, and that was a special strawberry sugaring set... I suddenly had a vivid mental image of how upper crust girls, years ago, must have sat in finishing school classes learning how to wield these mysterious implements."
The Finishing Touches - Hester Browne (2009)
Elizabeth (Betsy) is the little orphan Annie grown up, left in a marmalade carton on the steps of Lady Frances and Lord Pelham Phillimore's finishing school for girls in London. Fast forward 27 years, Betsy is working at a shoe shop when Frances passes away. Lord Phillimore invites her to come to the school and see if she can do something to save its fading fortunes. Horrified at the state of the school which is on the brink of bankruptcy, Betsy takes it upon herself to teach the remaining students the skills that may actually be helpful in life - from the essentials one must have in their handbag to how to look ab-fab for minimal costs. A perfect read for those wanting to see an old English finishing school being given a 21st century makeover. It's out with the table setting, white gloves and flower arrangements and in with eating sushi, managing budgets and mortgages and DIY manicures. (PP)
