Paradise Lodge - Tapa dura

"Stibbe's deadpan first-person delivery once again balances quirky charm with beady insight...Another deft helping of absurd social comedy and unconventional wisdom from a writer of singular, decidedly English gifts."
Kirkus"

"Sweetness and wit from Nina Stibbe. You won't find a funnier, more original confidante than Lizzie Vogel, a teen who's taken a job in a nursing home, at first just hoping to pay for some nice shampoo but eventually sucked into a full-on farce. Truancy, elder abuse, the death of Elvis Presley--there seems to be nothing the author of Love, Nina can't play for good-natured laughs and a sneaky touch of wisdom."
Kim Hubbard, People
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"Stibbe has a gift for summoning the high-octane low-attention-span pimplefest that is adolescence."
Molly Young, New York Times Book Review
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PRAISE FOR LOVE, NINA
"I adored this book, and I could quote from it forever. It's real, odd, life-affirming, sharp, loving...and I can't remember the last time I laughed out loud so frequently while reading." Nick Hornby, The Believer"

"Love, Nina is enchanting. It's one of the funniest--and oddest--books I've read in a long time.... [Stibbe's letters] are perceptive and droll, and provide a glimpse into the domestic life of a fascinating literary family." Moira Hodgson, The Wall Street Journal"

PRAISE FOR MAN AT THE HELM
"Man at the Helm is a winner- a brilliant find....It is full, free, outlandish. And I can't remember a book that made me laugh more. [Stibbe] doesn't take anything seriously. Or rather, she does, and yet her eye and ear for the absurd never desert her- they are part of who she is." The Guardian"

"Some of the most perceptive writing I've read about relationships in a while....this book is very, very funny. Stibbe has a fine eye for absurdity, and her writing has an unforced charm." The Independent"

"Lizzie's scheme to find a suitable match for her [mother] sparkles with humor as British as mincemeat pie."
Entertainment Weekly
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"Ms. Stibbe's writerly charms and her sneakily deep observations about romantic connection are on display throughout...'Man at the Helm' is densely peppered with funny lines, but even more striking is the sustained energy of the writing. In almost all the space between jokes, there remains a witty atmosphere, a playful effect sentence by sentence." John Williams, The New York Times"

It's 1977, and fifteen-year-old Lizzie Vogel is working in an old people's home. The place is in chaos, and it's not really a suitable job for a schoolgirl - she'd only gone for the job because it seemed too exhausting to commit to being a full-time girlfriend or a punk. She's also distracted by her family's financial troubles, keeping up with schoolwork, and deciding which brand of shampoo to use. When a rival old people's home opens, offering better parking and daily 'chairobics', business at Paradise Lodge takes a turn for the worse, and everyone must chip in to save the home before it's too late - from the crazed Matron, to the assertively shy nurse who only communicates via little grunts, to the very attractive son of the Chinese takeaway manager...