Campari for Breakfast

'Startlingly original . . . an utter delight' Tamsin Greig 
'Prepare to be charmed by Sue Bowl' Mail on Sunday 
A hilariously quirky coming-of-age novel, for readers who loved Sarah Winman's When God Was a Rabbit, Maria Semple's Where'd You Go Bernadette and Nina Stibbe's Love, Nina.

I was really cross when I reached the final few words, because I didn't want it to end. It is brilliant. Heart-rending sorrow, unremitting hopefulness and joy, held together by the delicious comic malapropisms of a startlingly original teenage heroine. An utter delight

We defy you not to love Sue, the quirky heroine of Sara Crowe's charming CAMPARI FOR BREAKFAST

A sort of upmarket Adrian Mole . . . full of poignancy, humour and shafts of startling perception

Campari for Breakfast is truly, charmingly, battily splendid… Utterly divine!

Lucy Robinson, author of The Unfinished Symphony of You and Me

This charming debut about family secrets reads like a cross between I Capture the Castle and Love, Nina

A quirky debut novel as touching as it is funny.

Deeply eccentric and very, very funny, Campari for Breakfast is as charming and humane as its multi-talented author. It's also unexpectedly touching. A delight

Absolutely delightful and charming. I loved it

Julie Cohen, Richard & Judy-selected author of Dear Thing

A quirky, funny and rather delightful debut novel.

A warm novel [with] echoes of Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle

This glorious comic novel is full of sweet-natured humour tempered with genuine emotion.  Absolutely adorable.

Sara Crowe is best known as an actress. She has appeared on television, stage and film, including the iconic Four Weddings and a Funeral. She has won the Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress, the Variety Club Best Actress Award and the London Critics Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Newcomer. Sara’s West End appearances include Private Lives, Calendar Girls and Hay Fever. She has also toured with Acorn Antiques: the Musical, and appeared in The City Madam for the Royal Shakespeare Company. 
 
Campari for Breakfast is Sara’s first novel, inspired by a crumbling old house and a love of English eccentricity. She began writing as a child and has also written comedy sketches for television and stand-up. But in the tradition of late developers‚ she recently re-opened the notebooks of yesteryear and some of the characters 
climbed out.

'Reads like a cross between I Capture the Castle and Love, Nina, with a pinch of Adrian Mole' The Bookseller 
 
‘We defy you not to love Sue’ Good Housekeeping 
 
'Campari for Breakfast is truly, charmingly splendid' Lucy Robinson 
 
Life is full of terrible things. Ghosts of dead relatives, heartbreak . . . burnt toast. 
 
In 1987, Sue Bowl's world changes for ever. Her mother dies, leaving her feeling like she’s lost a vital part of herself. And then her father shacks up with an awful man-eater called Ivana. 
 
But Sue’s mother always told her to make the most of what she’s got – and what she’s got is a love of writing and some eccentric relatives. So Sue moves to her Aunt Coral’s crumbling ancestral home, where she fully intends to write a book and fall in love . . . and perhaps drink Campari for breakfast 
 
Campari for Breakfast is a heart-warming, eccentric novel that joins the ranks of great British coming-of-age novels such as Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle and Nancy Mitford's The Pursuit of Love.

Sara Crowe

I started reading MARTINI HENRY outside in the sunshine. When the sun disappeared I didn’t notice, because the book is so filled with light. Every page brings giddy joy out of tender pockets of loss . . . 3 parts coming-of-age journal, 2 parts historical treasure, 1 part hilarious literary longing, this is a heady cocktail of humanity, humour and heart.

A fun and quirky read for the summer

Sara Crowe has written a very intelligent book that intrigues and captivates... It’s a book to be savoured and enjoyed, a perfect weekend read!

Brilliantly funny coming-of-age story****

Perfect for lovers of quirky, witty offbeat literary fiction!  It’s witty, quirky and unashamedly good fun.

Life isn’t an exact science. Things can be troublesome. Like pregnant step-mothers, the ins-and-outs of French existentialism . . . having an unexceptional name. 
 
In 1988, seventeen-year-old Sue Bowl has a diary, big dreams and £4.73. What she wants most of all is to make it as a writer, as well as stop her decadent aunt Coral spending money she doesn't have. 
 
Living in their crumbling ancestral home should provide plenty of inspiration, but between falling in love, hunting for missing heirlooms and internship applications, things keep getting in the way. 
 
So when a young literary professor moves in and catches Sue's eye, life begins to take an unexpected turn . . . 
 
From the author of Campari for Breakfast, a witty and enchanting novel about what happens after you think you’ve grown up and fallen in love, perfect for fans of I Capture the Castle, Love, Nina and Where’d You Go Bernadette.

Sara Crowe

Praise for Martini Henry

I started reading MARTINI HENRY outside in the sunshine. When the sun disappeared I didn’t notice, because the book is so filled with light. Every page brings giddy joy out of tender pockets of ...

Quirky and funny in spades

A fun and quirky read for the summer

I started reading MARTINI HENRY outside in the sunshine. When the sun disappeared I didn’t notice, because the book is so filled with light. Every page brings giddy joy out of tender pockets of ...

Quirky and funny in spades

A fun and quirky read for the summer

I started reading MARTINI HENRY outside in the sunshine. When the sun disappeared I didn’t notice, because the book is so filled with light. Every page brings giddy joy out of tender pockets of ...

Quirky and funny in spades

A fun and quirky read for the summer

Books by Sara Crowe

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