Featured Reading Guide
David Nobbs
Kate Thomas was beautiful, intelligent, witty, passionate and sexy. Now, at 99, she is trapped in a hospital ward of sad, mad and bad old women. She escapes by playing to herself the video of her life. What a life it has been. Her six marriages have ended in suicide, a husband’s adultery, another husband’s deportation as a dangerous alien, a union dispute, a murder, and a natural death. But Kate’s journey through the twentieth century is also a search for the truth – about life, death, and which of her three sons murdered her fifth husband. This is a novel rich in memorable characters, from…
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David Nobbs was born in Kent. After university, he entered the army, then tried his hand at journalism and advertising before becoming a writer. A distinguished novelist and comedy writer, he lives near Harrogate with his wife Susan.
topAbout the Book
Kate Thomas was beautiful, intelligent, witty, passionate and sexy. Now, at 99, she is trapped in a hospital ward of sad, mad and bad old women. She escapes by playing to herself the video of her life. What a life it has been. Her six marriages have ended in suicide, a husband’s adultery, another husband’s deportation as a dangerous alien, a union dispute, a murder, and a natural death. But Kate’s journey through the twentieth century is also a search for the truth – about life, death, and which of her three sons murdered her fifth husband. This is a novel rich in memorable characters, from Kate’s narrow but loving Welsh family to the wild members of an artists’ colony in Cornwall; from Midland piston manufacturers to an investigative journalist whose own life cannot bear investigation.
topStarting Points for Discussion
- Many of the characters in the book are portrayed though one characteristic – grateful Annie, death-obsessed Enid. How does David Nobbs manage to make these people three-dimensional, without reducing them to stereotypes?
- Much of the humour comes from the incongruousness of the situations. Kate relives her night of passion with Gwyn while the ward around her farts, snores and screams its way through the night. What other examples are there of this in the book?
- The theme of the book is love and the different ways in which it manifests itself. What are the ways in which Kate is drawn to her family, her wildly differing husbands and her children? Is it true that Kate is ultimately not very fond of her children?
- In a radio interview David Nobbs said that unlike his other work this was specifically devised not to work on television. Why do you think this is, and do you agree? Who could play the part of Kate?
- The descriptions in the book fix the settings firmly in the reader’s mind. How does Nobbs help the reader to imagine Swansea, the Cornish commune where Kate meets her first husband, and finally the hospital where she lies paralysed?
- Do you agree that Kate’s life is a picture of the 20th century? Can you give examples of where events have a direct impact on her life?
Other Books by David Nobbs
Cupid’s Dart
Alan and Ange are on a train, heading for London. Alan is a philosophy lect…
Going Gently
Kate Thomas was beautiful, intelligent, witty, passionate and sexy. Now, at 99,…
I Didn’t Get Where I Am Today…
As a small boy David Nobbs survived the Second World War unscathed, until his…
Pratt a Manger
When pretty young TV researcher Nicky Proctor visits Cafe Henry in London s …
Reginald Perrin Omnibus
Reginald Iolanthe Perrin is surely one of the best loved comic creations of our…
Suggested Further Reading
- Diary of an Ordinary Woman ~ Margaret Forster
- This is Craig Brown ~ Craig Brown
- Billy Liar ~ Keith Waterhouse
- The Rotters Club ~ Jonathan Coe
- Wise Children ~ Angela Carter