TheTown is a comedy of human behaviour and life in a small town where everyone knows everyone else’s business. An unashamedly nostalgic peek into an only recently lost era: a time when life was simpler, slower and there was always time to stop and natter. A time when entertainment was found in everyday life and the eccentricities of other people. But even in this little corner of yesteryear a little intrigue and mystery occasionally intrudes.

When Thomas Delany moves to a quiet coastal town in the south-west of England, he is looking to escape his stressful life as a judge, but also fallout from an unfortunate misunderstanding up on Hampstead Heath. Tom falls in with three local characters and finds real friendship and unexpected, down to earth wisdom. Each day in the Town, in spite of being much like the one before, offers entertainment, satisfaction and plenty to laugh at over beer and a ploughman’s lunch.

The friends take newcomer Tom under their wing and show him the delights of life in their timeless corner of the world. The four decide to celebrate a year of friendship by visiting a grand hotel renowned for hosting hedonistic parties of the rich and famous. But when one of them leaves the dinner table bound for the bathroom, he does not return.

• The Town captures beautifully the eccentricities of small town life.

• A cheerful glimpse of a yesterday that is still there if you look hard enough.

• A welcome holiday from the bad news that washes over us everday.

“The Town is unlike any novel I have ever read creating captivating entertainment from the banalities of everyday life.”

“A really good read, and funny. The style and standard puts me in mind of the short stories that got adapted for the BBC’s Play For Today.”

“If you like your novels strong on atmosphere, full of earthy realism and wit, you will surely enjoy The Town.”

“I am not sure what I expected, but it was certainly not what I got.”