'Her brilliance in capturing the ripples on the surface of family life gives her a claim to be the Jane Austen of our age' Daily Mail Having sacked her handyman, newly-widowed Mrs Emerson finds a replacement in Elizabeth, a lanky, awkward girl. The Emersons, with their seven adult children, have a reputation for craziness, and Elizabeth finds herself drawn into their disorderly lives against her will. But in the end it is hard to tell whether she is a victim of the needy Emersons, or the de facto ruler of the family. **ANNE TYLER HAS SOLD OVER 1 MILLION BOOKS WORLDWIDE** 'One of my favourite authors' Liane Moriarty 'She spins gold' Elizabeth Buchan 'Anne Tyler has no peer' Anita Shreve 'A masterly author' Sebastian Faulks
