What a fun read. At times Evie seemed younger that 16, but what a charming character. I really rooted for her from start to finish.

The setting and era was perfect for this book. And the great set of supporting characters.

I laughed and sympathized with Evie as she maneuvered her way to growing up.

This is definitely a sleeper book that more people should be reading.

A brilliant, funny book that was something completely different! Had a good few giggles along the way and it was such a delightful read.

Great book and super funny! Easy reading but yet engrossing story. I fell in love with the characters! A must read.

I hadn’t heard of this book until very recently and when I started to see members of my book club recommend it my FOMO kicked in and I downloaded it without reading the blurb or even looking at the cover!!

Within the first chapter I was laughing out loud and grinning ear to ear and knew that Evie Epworth was going to be one of my new favourite characters. For those of you who know me, you will know that I have suffered with Bovinophobia* all my life and all I can say is that I am glad I didn’t see the cover before reading it as it would have definitely put me off.

The Miseducation of Evie Epworth is set in Yorkshire in the early 1960’s and centres around 16 year old Evie Epworth who lives with her father, Arthur and his live-in housekeeper/fiance Christine on the family farm. Evie’s on the cusp of womanhood and doesn’t quite know what kind of woman she will be. Her mother died when she was a baby and the only female role models in her life are her wonderful elderly next door neighbour Mrs Scott-Pym and the utterly despicable soon to be stepmother Christine.

Matson Taylor has brought to life some truly memorable and wonderful characters with his vivid descriptions and wonderful narrative. I was able to step back to the 60’s and watch Evie navigate her journey through life with the background music from Adam Faith and The Beatles.

There were some really moving moments which made me shed a little tear, especially when concerning her beloved dead mother, her father who is obviously in over his head with the gold-digging revolting Christine, and her unconditional friendship with Mrs Scott-Pym who treats Evie like a daughter.

The humour was spot on, the descriptions were so detailed, the dialogue was wonderful and I couldn’t put this book down. It’s a guaranteed feel good book and I would 100% recommend to everyone who loves character driven books.

It hasn’t helped my phobia, but it made me laugh and I know I won’t forget “that scene” in a long time.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.

*Bovinophobia, more popularly known as Cows Phobia, is a fear of cows that affects people of all ages – varying from mild uneasiness to full-blown panic attacks. Even pictures can invoke the same response in a person suffering from this phobia.

I've had The Miseducation Of Evie Epworth on my shelf for a while, but I have no idea why it took me so long to read it. It's wonderfully written, full of humour, both subtle and overt, and it's incredibly uplifting. I'd recommend it to anyone.

The star of the show is, as the title suggests, Evie Epworth, and she found her way into my heart straight away. I love her boldness, both in her narration and in her dialogue with others, which gives the novel its humour. I think it also stood out to me more as The Miseducation Of Evie Epworth is set mostly in the early 1960s, when it was unusual for young women to be so outspoken.
However, Evie is surrounded by a brilliant cast of supporting characters who help to shape her into the young woman she wants to be. Mrs Scott-Pym and her dog, Sadie, are always on hand for advice, and despite their significant age difference, their relationship is wonderful. Caroline is confident and outspoken and really helps Evie to come out of her shell. Arthur is kind, although he finds it hard to relate to his daughter now that she is a young woman. The characters of Vera and Christine are also really well constructed, although they're not always, OK never, likeable.

As I mentioned before, The Miseducation Of Evie Epworth is set in the early 1960s, and the author has done a brilliant job of bringing this era to life in the reader's mind. I love the references to the music (I wonder what happened to those four young lads from Liverpool?) and popular famous figures, and it's interesting to think about the different attitudes in society, particularly around what Evie should do when she has finished school.

The Miseducation Of Evie Epworth is set in a village in East Yorkshire, whose nearest "big" cities are Leeds and York. I have lived in both these cities, so I loved the references to specific language and it was interesting to picture what it would have looked like in the early 1960s.

Alongside the humour, Matson Taylor also brings a number of interesting and relevant themes to our attention. At times, this is really subtle, but through the characters, and their actions and attitudes, the reader is given a lot to think about.

I can't wait to read the sequel and continue Evie's story!

This book was such fun - a real tonic! Evie was a delightful character with a distinctive voice and an irrepressible, naive charm as well as a kind heart and a sense of mischief. Her adventures in this coming of age story made me smile.
The wicked stepmother character was hilarious, the kind of character I love to hate. If you wanted to take it entirely seriously you might not like this book, but take it as a lighthearted, joyous romp and just enjoy the ride. It really cheered me up with its very British funny turns of phrase and some cracking scenes, including a particularly memorable picnic.

The Miseducation of Evie Epworth is the joyous period novel that centres around, family - the one you are related too and the one that you create with the people around you.

Evie Epworth is sixteen years old and ready to tackle the big wide world. Her father's fiancé has other ideas about what Evie should be doing with her future and thus begins our Cinderella story that involves, injury, sexual liberation, cake and cows.

Evie's greatest challenge is revealing to her father the terrible behaviour of her soon-to-be stepmum, Christine, and to somehow become a fabulous scenester in London. With the help of her community of friends and neighbours and a bit of modern day technology she tackles Christine head on regardless of the consequences which in Evie's case consists of a full time job in a hairdressers.

I really enjoyed reading The Miseducation of Evie Epworth. It was a lovely distraction from life. It won't be the story that changes your life but it will put a smile on your face. The perfect holiday read and I am so excited for the sequel.

The Miseducation of Evie Epworth by Matson Taylor is available now.

For more information regarding Matson Taylor (@matson_taylor) please visit www.matsontaylor.com.

For more information regarding Simon & Schuster (@SimonBooks) please visit www.simonandschuster.com.

Witty, upbeat and modern.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy of this book in exchange for my feedback.

What a gem is book was ....a unique style of writing we discover young Evie who is struggling to come to terms with her mums death her Dad moving on with the awful Christine who’s only after dear Arthur’s money ... time spent with the dear neighbour who knew her mother well gives Evie much needed refuge. From making cakes with a magic spell to get rid of Christine to uncovering and revealing her true colours this book is a real delight with great characters and I didn’t want it to end

A really joyful and uplifting read. I really loved the character of Evie and can’t wait to read more by this author.

What a delightful read this is, truly perfect if you look to add some much needed positivity to the bleak start of 2021!

It is a frothy, nostalgic (without being sentimental) coming of age story, beautifully evoking the atmosphere of the early 1960s.

If you need a little pick-me-up, give this a try, you will soon chuckle to yourself as you learn all about Evie Epworth and her friends and foes.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced ecopy of this book in exchange for an impartial and honest review.

Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read a free advance copy of this book. Unfortunately I hadn't found time during the year to read this book, and so I will be picking up a paid copy in 2021 to support the author instead as an apology.

Thanks for the copy. Enjoyed diving into the 1960s to follow Evie’s story which was full of wit and great storytelling.

💫💫💫💫💫

Really enjoyed this book. Set in the 1960s, the self-deprecating narrative voice of Evie takes us effortlessly into her life, and the trials and tribulations of being a teenager at that time. The rest of the characters are just as delightful - some in a nice, some in a dislikable, way. Full of humour and fun, with a real happy ending, pretty rare in fiction nowadays!

Oh this book is the perfect antidote to all of the horrendous things that seem to be on the news this year!

Set in the 1960s, Evie is a 16 year old girl from Yorkshire and she lives with her widowed father and his 'housekeeper' (Christine) who is a younger woman with her heart set on marrying Evie's dad. Evie, of course, is not a fan of the idea and sets out to derail the relationship. Evie recognises that Christine is not necessarily in love with her father and because Evie dotes on her father she thinks he deserves better.

The most wonderful thing about this book is Evie's voice. Written by an adult male, I am in awe of how well he made me believe that I was reading the thoughts and words of a adolescent girl. On top of that, Evie is hilarious. She is sweet and caring but oh so very naive, yet weirdly astute despite her naivety. She cares deeply for her next door neighbour Mrs Scott-Pym, and as the book progresses she meets an array of characters who help her to figure out her identity, and the kind of woman she wants to grow up to be.

The book has some incredibly funny scenes, but also some moving scenes too. That balance between touching and comedic is really excellent. There are also some flashbacks to the blossoming relationship between Evie's father and mother in the 1940s - these really helped me to understand Evie's father in more depth.

I loved the characterisation, as each of the characters were bursting with vitality and so very unique in their own way.

Every bit of this book was a joy to read and I cannot wait to read the follow up!!

Thanks to Simon and Schuster UK (Scribner UK) and Netgalley for the copy of this eARC.

This was such a great read! I blazed through it so quickly and couldnt put it down, as i loved every character and how the story progressed. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys this kind of wit and joy in a book.

It's 1962, and sixteen-year-old Evie is standing on the edge of adulthood, but the fastest milk bottle delivery girl in East Yorkshire doesn't know what to do with her life.  She's dreaming of the bright lights of London, but she doesn't know what she wants to do with her life and her two Adam Faith posters (brooding Adam and sophisticated Adam) don't have any answers for her. But before she can go anywhere, she has a few problems demanding her attention: her widowed father has fallen prey to a much younger woman, who Evie is fairly sure is a gold digger - and it's putting the family farm under threat. In her quest to save the family, she makes friends with one of her neighbours and starts to discover life beyond rural England.

This took me a bit longer to get into than I was expecting, but once I was in, I was in. There was some early talk of magic and spells that threw me because it wasn't what I was expecting, but it sorted itself out quite fast. I liked Evie's voice and I really enjoyed discovering her world. It's written as her diary, which means there's a lot of fun as a reader in spotting the stuff that she's missing because of her age and (relative) innocence. All the side characters are well drawn, and often hilarious, and I really enjoyed watching Evie's future come together and seeing how everything worked out. It's not perfect, but it's lots of fun and laugh out loud funny at times. I'll be looking to see what Matson Taylor writes next.

I loved this book! Evie’s voice was really clear, and you could hear so much of her through it. I would recommend to fans of I Capture The Castle, without a doubt. And I loved the way she took new things in her stride.
Great fashion inspiration too.

I started this (yet again) without reading the blurb, before actually cracking a page. Most books that have lingered on my TBR have faded into the queue without me retaining its essence. This is not the case once I get to them, enjoy them and set them down, which lessens any for of guilt I might have.
I love the tone of narration throughout the book. Evie Epworth has been brought up by her father, it is the 1960s and school is almost over. Evie has to figure out what to do with her life before others do it for her. Her best friend is trying as is an interloper into her family. I must say that I took Evie at her word when she started her introductions, so was a little confused with a few scenes. It is only later that things become more apparent.
The story plays out like a modern fairytale, with Evie the hapless princess trying to save her father from the clutches of an evil witch. The supporting cast is very vivid and eclectic in their behaviour. It is a fun read with a few emotional moments with an all too convenient ending. Some parts of that last bit seemed too cliched to accept, but otherwise, I read the whole thing in almost one sitting and enjoyed all of it. I would recommend it to a teenager looking for a lighter read!
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

July 1962 and Evie has completed her O-levels, the rest of her life before her. Should she go to 6th form or get a sensible job as a hairdresser? Her widowed father's new fiancee Christine obviously wants Evie out of the way but Evie is convinced that the blousy woman is just after her father's money. Evie is closer to her older neighbour who knew her mother. Really all Evie wants to do is to experience the bright lights and marry Adam Faith.
This book is a real joy! Obviously as I am a Yorkshire lass I have a soft spot for this tale but really it's just a lovely lightweight summer read. Every cliche about Yorkshire is in there but it doesn't matter, Evie is a gauche and loveable character and the setting in the early sixties is well-imagined. The reviews for this book are well-justified!