The Choral Society

Three single women in their fifties meet when they join a choir. Lucy, recently widowed, is a cook and food journalist; Joanna, a successful business woman, never married; Rebecca is a divorced interior decorator. Each of the women is at a crossroads and they quickly form a bond.

The trio decide to combine their talents to restore a crumbling pile in Cornwall and turn it into a cookery school and spa. The project brings its own conflicts, both professional and personal. The novel's themes touch on the sustaining power of female friendship and how a woman copes with mid life and onwards.

Prue's narrative voice is warm, witty, wise, very accessible. Her characters are sympathetic and engaging: very different women but each with demons to face as she gets older and confronts a future without - perhaps - a man in it. Her knowledge of food and business adds detail and zest, enriching an already compelling tale.

“"Depicts these smart coming-of-middle-age denizens with wisdom, humor and a dollop of realistic angst." -Publishers Weekly”

'Sophie Kinsella for grown-ups' Daily Express. Daily Express
'A book not to miss... an uplifting tribute to female friendship' Good Housekeeping. Good Housekeeping
'Prue Leith tackles this previously unexplored area with sympathy and gusto … Post 40 and 50 there is, as this novel suggests, much to play for' 'With cooking very much on people's minds who more appropriate to share some time with than restaurateur-turned-novelist Prue Leith? ...alongside her insights into the subject of later-in-life romance, Leith's love of all things culinary shines through the text' Daily Mail. Daily Mail
'A rattling good read. If this novel was a meal it would be a light and fluffy soufflé … A perfect choice to brighten up those dark nights. Recommended' Edinburgh Evening News. Edinburgh Evening News

As a cook, restaurateur, food writer and business woman, Prue Leith has played a key role in the revolution of Britain's eating habits since the 1960s. She is a judge on Channel 4's Great British Bake Off. She is the author of many cookery books as well as several novels and an autobiography, recently updated and reissued under the title Let Me Eat Cake. All Prue's fiction and her memoir are in print with Quercus. She is married to John Playfair and lives in Oxfordshre. Follow her on on Twitter @PrueLeith

Friendship, sex, shopping, singing - even love: life doesn't end at fifty. That's what these three women, who meet when they join a choir, firmly believe. But that's about all they have in common. Lucy, a widowed food journalist, is obeying her bossy daughter who prescribes singing to help her get over her grief. Joanna, the single and successful businesswoman for whom failure is not an option, is tackling her inability to sing a note. And much-divorced Rebecca is unashamedly looking for another mate. When these three very different women decide to combine their talents to transform a run-down hotel on the Cornish coast, conflict is bound to result. It's clear that the choir has taught them a good deal more than how to sing...

Three single women in their fifties meet when they join a choir. Lucy, recently widowed, is a cook and food journalist; Joanna, a successful business woman, never married; Rebecca is a divorced interior decorator. Each of the women is at a crossroads and they quickly form a bond. The trio decide to combine their talents to restore a crumbling pile in Cornwall and turn it into a cookery school and spa. The project brings its own conflicts, both professional and personal. The novel's themes touch on the sustaining power of female friendship and how a woman copes with mid life and onwards. Prue's narrative voice is warm, witty, wise, very accessible. Her characters are sympathetic and engaging: very different women but each with demons to face as she gets older and confronts a future without - perhaps - a man in it. Her knowledge of food and business adds detail and zest, enriching an already compelling tale.

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