Reasons to be Cheerful

July 15, 2019
Stibbe’s charming latest (after An Almost Perfect Christmas) chronicles how 18-year-old Lizzie Vogel navigates young adulthood while working at a dental practice in 1980s Leicester, England. With some nursing experience under her belt and a way with words, Lizzie finds a job as a dental assistant for the intolerant and often thoughtless JP Wintergreen. Lizzie helps out JP’s part-time employee turned girlfriend, Tammy, who remains a friendly, if overbearing, presence. Their personal foibles—such as JP’s desire to join the Freemasons and Tammy’s fertility issues—often spill into the workplace. Through the practice, Lizzie becomes involved with childhood acquaintance Andy, now a lab tech, though their love life suffers after her mom, Elizabeth, takes him in as a boarder and takes a shine to him that Lizzie worries might be romantic. Stibbe nicely captures the tug of love and exasperation at the heart of this mother-daughter relationship, and also successfully writes quirky characters that don’t come off as cutesy or forced. She’s particularly adept at inhabiting a daughter’s forgiving eye of her mother’s past alcoholism and other dark times. Stibbe’s memorable characterizations and storytelling talent hold steady as a tragedy in Lizzie’s life suddenly unfurls. This novel treats readers to a rare voice that captivates with pathos and humor.