Published 21st July 2022 by Scribner UK.
From the cover of the book:
Evie Epworth is 10 years older. But is she any wiser?Ten years on from the events of The Miseducation of Evie Epworth, Evie is settled in London and working as a production assistant for the BBC. She has everything she ever dreamed of (a career, a leatherette briefcase, an Ossie Clark poncho) but, following an unfortunate incident involving a Hornsea Pottery mug and Princess Anne, she finds herself having to rethink her future. What can she do? Is she too old to do it? And will it involve cork-soled sandals?
As if this isn’t complicated enough, her disastrous love life leaves her worrying that she may be destined for eternal spinsterdom, concerned, as she is, that 'even Paul had married Linda by the time he was 26’. Through it all, Evie is left wondering whether a '60s miseducation really is the best preparation to glide into womanhood and face the new challenges (strikes, power cuts, Edward Heath’s teeth) thrown up by the growing pains of the '70s.
With the help of friends, both old and new, she might just find a way through her messy 20s and finally discover who exactly she is meant to be....
***********
Following the events of our first adventure with Evie in 1962 in The Miseducation of Evie Epworth, it's time to catch up with her in 1972! Evie has now spent ten years living a groovy life in London, working at the BBC as a production assistant, and she's pretty happy with her lot - until a calamitous misunderstanding over a Hornsea Pottery mug and Woman's Hour special guest-star Princess Anne results in her getting her marching orders.
Evie now has to rethink the direction of her life, and she is completely unprepared. There are just so many choices, and she's not sure if any of them are right for a 26-and-a-half-year-old cosmopolitan city swinger such as herself? And that's another problem, how did she get to be this age without having found Mr Right? She's surely in danger of being left on the shelf at this rate, but so far none of her prospective suitors are up to the mark. As the 70s get underway, it's time for Evie to reassess and discover exactly what she wants from life...
I absolutely loved The Miseducation of Evie Epworth, so it was super exciting to be able to catch up with Evie ten years on from when she set off to London as an adventurous sixteen-year-old, full of hopes and dreams about the future. In many ways this is a much more sophisticated Evie, fully versed in the ways of city life, and she has had a great time making the most of the opportunities the 60s have brought her, but she still carries Yorkshire in her heart.
It is time for Evie to hold on to her strappy Biba sandals while she navigates a whole new set of challenges in the next stage of her 'coming of age story', and Matson Taylor contrives plenty of humorous and heart-string-plucking situations to carry you along from chuckle-fest beginning to gorgeous tear-jerker ending. He finds plenty to make you think too, especially in the really rather profound way Evie recognises that the 70s might actually belong to the generation coming along behind her.
There are three threads to this story that serve to hit you full on in the feels: Evie's trials and tribulations in 1972; a really poignant story-line around the lovely Mrs Scott-Pym in 1971; and an intriguing look back to the 1950s from the point of view of a character who is not immediately obvious, but who comes into focus later. The three threads weave beautifully together, colliding with heart-wrenching force as the story progresses, and the moments when they touch had me shedding bucket loads of tears. Matson knows exactly how to set the pace perfectly for every moment, slowing things down for a full-on emotional pummelling one minute, and then upping it for a mood-lightening slapstick comedy sketch the next, bringing everything together in one joyous mix that creates absolute gold. Worth a special mention are the boyfriend 'Top Trumps' cards spread throughout the text, which give an amusing, and often tragic, glimpse of Evie's romantic history.
Expect glorious characters, with faces you are very familiar with from the first book (Mrs Swithenbank, how I love you), and some cracking new ones to both love and hate in equal measure - Lolo and Geneviève on the love side, and the truly horrendous, multi-tasselled Griffin on the 'I really hope she gets what's coming to her' other one. And, that young slip of a lad Matson surely has some sort of time travel machine packed away in his leatherette briefcase, because he hits the mark spot on for the look and feel of 1972 throughout - I was barely out of nursery school at the time, but my goodness this is a walk and a half down memory lane, with lashings of popular culture references that took me right back. Oh to be home in time for Hector's House once more!
If you are in any doubt about whether you could possibly love this book as much as the first one, then you really need not worry (if you haven't read the first book then get to it pronto). If anything, this is even better, totally blowing those second novel jitters right out of the water. I adored it!
All About Evie is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.
Thank you to Matson Taylor for sending me a proof of this book, in return for an honest review.
About the author:
He is a design historian and academic-writing tutor and has worked at various universities and museums around the world; he currently teaches at the V&A, Imperial College, and the RCA.
He has also worked on Camden Market, appeared in an Italian TV commercial, and been a pronunciation coach for Catalan opera singers.
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