'What a gorgeous, evocative novel!
It charmed me from beginning to end'
Sophie Kinsella

Read an extract

'Sitting at the kitchen table, Materena is ready to record the Welcome to Womanhood talk, the talk she now feels she should have given her daughter:

Only buy two-sided tablecloths, that way you'll have two tablecloths for the prize of one.

Don't eat in front of people if you can't share.

Don't get married before you have at least one child with your man.

Check the woman who raised the man you want as your husband.

Never visit a woman who's just given birth looking your best.

Don't start thinking you know more than I do.'