The Queen of the Tambourine

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The Queen of the Tambourine
TheQueenOfTheTambourine.jpg
First edition
Author Jane Gardam
Cover artist Piero della Francesca - St. Julian, fresco decoration of the church of Sant'Agostino in Borgo San Sepolcro (1455-60) [1]
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Publisher Sinclair-Stevenson Ltd
Publication date
15 April 1991
Media typePrint
Pages234
Awards Whitbread Prize for Best Novel of the Year [2]
ISBN 1-85619-035-8

The Queen of the Tambourine is a 1991 epistolary novel by English author Jane Gardam; it won the Whitbread Prize for Best Novel that year. [2]

Contents

Plot introduction

Set in a wealthy Surrey suburb of South London, the novel takes the form of a series of increasingly bizarre letters written by Eliza Peabody, an interfering neighbour and hospice volunteer. The letters are written to Joan, who has left her husband and fled the country, and tell of Eliza's own marital and later mental breakdown, as the barriers between truth and fiction break down.

Reception

Reviews are positive :

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References

  1. Piero della Francesca, and an overview of his work | Hidden secrets of Tuscany | Podere Santa Pia Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 27-03-2016.
  2. 1 2 Past Winners complete list Retrieved 2016-03-25.
  3. THE QUEEN OF THE TAMBOURINE by Jane Gardam | Kirkus Reviews Retrieved 27-03-2016.
  4. www.publishersweekly.com Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  5. The Best Novels of the Nineties by Linda Parent Lesher, page 139, ISBN   0786407425