Went to London, Took the Dog - Nina Stibbe

Oh my, what a delight this book has been for me. Living in a perpetual haze of down-spiritedness and winter doldrums every time I picked this up and read just a page or two I found myself chuckling, agreeing vehemently or even laughing out loud. I thought I'd forgotten how to laugh. I borrowed this from the library. Although it wasn't due back I returned it this morning as it has been reserved by several people and I know what it's like when you really want to read a book. While I was there I searched the biography/memoir section and found 'Love Nina'. and I can't wait to read it. 

Why did I enjoy this book so much? It's witty. It's clever. It's warm. It's perceptive. It's real. It's honest. There are some sad bits. But it's full of love. 

The premise is that Stibbe and her dog, Peggy, takes a year sabbatical from Cornwall and a stuttering marriage to lodge with Deborah Moggach in London. Her children and several friends are in London too and the book, or diary, chronicles that year with such well paced and salient detail. Nina is in her sixties and undergoing the trials of an ageing body, women of a certain age will relate to so much of this. It's all so piercingly true. 

But a writer hangs out with other writers so the cast list is impressive! I mean, can you imagine going to a pub quiz night with Nick Hornby?! When I first started the book and read the 'Cast, in order of appearance' I was puzzled but I ended up being very grateful for it and I referred back to it several times to confirm who is, indeed who. It's very much a writer's diary too with details of literary festivals and book related events that you get to see not from the punter's perspective but an author's. It's fascinating. 

I am a diarist and reading this has totally transformed the way I write mine. It's given me a good shake up and whilst I will never live as interesting a life as Nina Stibbe nor will I ever be as funny her book has made me write a more dynamic narrative in my daily scribblings.