Hens Dancing: A Novel

by Raffaella Barker

Book Overview

A young divorcee finds herself marooned in the countryside, surrounded by clutter, children, and hens. This charming, wickedly funny, exuberant novel is the talented young author's U.S. debut. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375503862
• ISBN13: 9780375503863
• Release Date: February 2001
• Publisher: Random House
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 1.0" x 5.8"

Customer Reviews

Hens Dancing

I loved this book - almost a modern day Nancy Mitford style. Warm and amusing without bitterness. Great characters. I heartily reccommend it for those looking for a light read with a precise and edgy british writing style.

Wonderful book. Read, relax & enjoy!

I read both Hens Dancing and Summertime & enjoyed them immensely. I love this type of fun "women's fiction" book. The book is in diary form and follows Venetia through a year of her life as an eccentric single mother of three. The setting is small town/rural outside of London. She is an artistic type character who can't seem to ever get herself as together and organized as all the other mothers at her childrens' school. The house is never clean, the laundry is never done, her love of gardening never seems to result in a beautiful garden, and random pets & other animals are always creating havoc. It was great fun! I highly recommend this book as well as the sequel, Summertime.

Charming and funny

I loved this wonderful little book! It's a light read about a 35 year old mother of 3 children--one a baby--who has just gone through a divorce and is raising her children in a large,ramshackle house in the English countryside.Venetia is suffering from self doubt in a large measure but is actually a wonderful mother who puts her childrens interests first before fussing about a tidy house. I'd recommend this charming and amusing book to anyone but particularly to mothers of young children.

A Mild Tranquilizer

I adored this book and wanted it to go on forever. It was so soothing and so real. I don't think I've ever had a book have such a calming effect on me, especially since the life of the main character was quite chaotic. I suppose it was her calm, unruffled way of dealing with her life, that made me see how trivial most things are. She knew how to focus on the important things in life; her children, family, friends, and all the beauty nature has provided.(both of them!)

Essential Reading

I just loved this book, I've read it at least six times since I bought it a year or so ago, and I currently have it with me, even though I am on the other side of the world from the major portion of my library. Venetia is so real and so normal, so are her children, not at all like so many of the 'made-up' people of popular fiction, and her mother reminds me so much of some of my elderly relatives. There is a hilarious sequel as well, called 'Summertime'. By the way, I don't think it's at all reminiscent of 'Bridget Jones'- Venetia is a rural rather than an urban character, she is a mother (although she's not necessarily any older than Bridget), and she's of a completely different type of background. Rafaella Barker was greatly influenced by the classic 'Diary of a Provincial Lady' (EM Delafield) in writing 'Hens Dancing', and I think she really has evoked the life of the same type of woman today.