About the Book
Jane is trying.She's been trying for a baby, with increasing desperation as her thirties sail by.Now, she's trying to make a new start back home with her overprotective, charades-obsessed parents - having left her career and cheating fiance behind in London.And, she's trying to convince herself she didn't leave the front door unlocked, or the gas on. (Jane's not anxious. She just wants to make one hundred percent sure that nothing bad's going to happen to her. EVER.)With an increasing load on her plate, friends and family who think if she only listens to them she'll have a perfect life, and a brain which questions every decision she's ever made, can Jane conquer her demons and step forward on her own?
About the Author :
Isy Suttie is a comedian, actress and writer. She has written for the Guardian, the Observer, the New Statesman, Red and Glamour. She appears regularly on BBC Radio 4, where her show Pearl and Dave won a Gold Sony Award in 2013. Her TV credits include Dobby in Peep Show and Esther in Shameless, plus appearances on 8 Out of 10 Cats, Would I Lie To You? and Q.I. A three-time British Comedy Award nominee, her short stories have appeared in A Love Letter To Europe and Dead Funny: Encore. Her memoir, The Actual One, was published by Orion in 2015.
Review :
I LOVED Jane Is Trying. It has all the warmth, cleverness, wit and turn of phrase I fell in love with watching Isy performing
Jane Is Trying is Isy Suttie's first novel but her voice has the easy, warm confidence of someone whose been at the lark for yonks; slyly funny, gently incisive, compassionate yes but with just enough wicked accuracy about the process of growing up and getting things wrong to make it painfully true.
Big-hearted, stacked with empathy, and properly splutter-coffee funny. A book so full of love that there ought to be a huggable version of it. Isy goes from warm-hearted to outrageous so deftly that I think she might have special powers. WHAT a book. How many times can I say 'brilliant'?
A hilarious and touching story about going backwards in order to move forwards, imbued with Isy Suttie's unique voice and outlook on our stressful, ridiculous world
Sharp, tender, darkly funny and so well observed
Gripping, laugh out loud and heart-warming. Suttie has created a charming world of oddballs (and their even odder parents) I miss them all already!
A rich comedy about the joy and horror of romance, sex, family life and small towns, Jane Is Trying is one of the most delightful and rewarding first novels I've ever read. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading, laughing or doing both at the same time.
Jane is Trying is laugh out loud funny, beautiful and brave. It manages to be true to life and yet so full of funny and outrageous drama, too. This is the kind of book that you wish would never end. I loved it!
Offbeat, hilarious, tender and vulnerable. I loved it.
I was already a huge fan of Isy Suttie and can confirm I'm now at the raging, crying, teenager-obsessed-with-Harry-Styles level. Jane Is Trying is absolute genius; so clever and funny. I laughed and cried constantly and couldn't put it down. Everyone should read it.
Very funny and utterly charming. Jane is Trying is tremendous
A chilling scenario: the move back to your childhood home. Isy explores its perils in her usual manner: 0% pretension, 100% warmth and love. You root for Jane to pull through this pickle, and you root for Isy to write more and more of these
Gripping. Brilliant. Hilarious. Poetic. Profound. An absolute triumph. Every single line is a thing of beauty
This is a very entertaining book but it's a lot more than a comic novel. It has real heart and humanity and goes deep into the anxieties of pregnancy, relationships, home, and (in Jane's case) pretty much every other aspect of life
A phenomenally funny, thoughtful and, at times, pulverising novel
Isy Suttie writes with a warmth and wit that makes me want to move to the Peak District and open a bookshop
Suttie brightens the page with her eccentric characters and wonderful observations of small-town life...will have you scoffing with laughter
Some of Jane's musings are so relatable you'll catch yourself laughing out loud, slightly alarmed by the accuracy . . . Suttie portrays the more honest aspects of what are usually regarded as the best parts of life - family, relationships, friends, career - with the perfect concoction of warmth and grit
Suttie has a keen eye for supplementary detail, which makes her story seem all the more real, and an ear for a nice turn of phrase, which makes it delightful to read
This debut novel exudes all the offbeat humour and acute observation you might expect from the actress and comedian who first stole our hearts as Dobby in Peep Show. This beguiling tale captures how modern pressures fuel anxiety, and how it feels when your life falls into the gap between expectation and reality
A story of courage, and the need to progress on your own terms, this novel will move you from tears to laughter
Funny and so relatable, this is a winning debut
Suttie portrays the more honest aspects of what are usually regarded as the best parts of life - family, relationships, friends, careers - with warmth and grit
Suttie brightens the page with her eccentric characters and wonderful observations of small-town life...will have you scoffing with laughter
