A truly funny, intelligently told story that takes you deep into someone else's life

'Should be read for Barker's glittering prose ... Venetia is a disarmingly wry and engaging narrator with a keen eye for nature and the follies of urban chic' Financial Times

'A positive hymn to provincial living, it is an entertaining celebration of family life with all its highs, lows and eccentricities' The Times

When Venetia Summers’s husband runs off with his masseuse, the bohemian idyll she has strived to create for her young family suddenly loses some of its rosy hue. From her tumble-down cottage in Norfolk she struggles to keep up with the chaos caused by her two boys, her splendid baby daughter and the hordes of animals, relatives and would-be artists that live in her home.

From juggling errant cockerels, jam-making frenzies and Warhammers, to unexpected romance, Bloody Mary’s and forays into fashion design, Hens Dancing is like a rural Bridget Jones’s Diary as it charts a year of Venetia’s madcap household.

Should be read for Barker's glittering prose ... Venetia is a disarmingly wry and engaging narrator with a keen eye for nature and the follies of urban chic * Financial Times *
A positive hymn to provincial living, it is an entertaining celebration of family life with all its highs, lows and eccentricities * The Times *
Charming ... Engrossing * Sunday Times *
A fine, spiky sense of humour * Daily Telegraph *
The countryside is described in lush and affectionate terms ... Raffaella Barker is a writer of talent * Times Literary Supplement *

Raffaella Barker, daughter of the poet George Barker, was born and brought up in the Norfolk countryside. She is the author of seven acclaimed novels: Come and Tell Me Some Lies, The Hook, Hens Dancing, Summertime, Green Grass, A Perfect Life and Poppyland. She has also written a novel for young adults, Phosphorescence. She is a regular contributor to the Sunday Times and the Sunday Telegraph, and teaches on the Literature and Creative Writing BA at the University of East Anglia and the Guardian UEA Novel Writing Masterclass. Raffaella Barker lives by the sea in north Norfolk. www.raffaellabarker.co.uk @raffaellabarker