Keggie Carew has an unerring instinct for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, of putting her foot in it and making a hash of things. From the repercussions of a missing purse, to boiling a frog, or the holiday when the last thing you could possibly imagine happens, Keggie has been there. She also has an enviable talent for recycling awfulness and turning embarrassment into gold. In prose that will make you laugh, wince and curl your toes, Keggie Carew shares her most humiliating, awkward, uncomfortable, funny, true, terrible and all-too-relatable moments.

I don't know how she does it but Keggie has the ability to take the sideways moments in life, and paint them with such humour and folly and awfulness I go from snort-out-loud laughing to wonder. Here is a collection of tales of mistakes that verge from terrifying to everyday but told once again with Keggie's rare blend of wit, warmth, zany fizz and plain honesty -- RACHEL JOYCE
This is an unexpected and unusual treat: a funny and clever collection of non-fiction stories that feels like a breath of fresh air . . . This is laugh-out-loud, delightful comedic writing. It captures a mood of escapism and nostalgia that I found incredibly reassuring and cheering. More Keggie, please -- VIV GROSKOP * * Observer * *
Hilariously, toe-curlingly relatable . . . a joyous burst of authenticity * * Mail on Sunday * *
Carew is a natural storyteller, and each of these tales works like a perfectly paced standup routine, punctuated by some gorgeous phrase-making . . . It's hard to make writing look this easy, but Carew's stories have the knack of easing the reader happily from page to page, leaving us squirming at the situations she finds herself in while secretly hoping that she won't escape them just yet * * Guardian * *
Wonderfully written, very funny and full of life -- ROGER DALTREY
Carew excel[s] at pinpointing the disjointedness between the life we boast about and the messy lives we actually end up living * * Sunday Times * *
Keggie Carew really has a knack for stepping in it, boy. But the further you wade in with her, the more hilarious, and poignant, it all becomes. Quicksand Tales is a tonic for the tortured and cursed -- JOSHUA FERRIS
I loved it. Keggie is chaos in motion, yearning for everything to go right and, luckily for us, it rarely does. She has a wonderfully sharp eye for character, draws every scene so vividly and it's funny, witty. Never arch. Funny. And awful -- ROBERT BATHURST
Keggie Carew blazes a trail for the more earthbound and hapless among us in her brilliant and hilarious Quicksand Tales * * Sunday Express * *
Charming . . . Carew has a beautifully evocative style * * Evening Standard * *

Keggie Carew has lived in West Cork, Barcelona, Texas, Auckland and London. Before writing, her career was in contemporary art. Keggie lives in Wiltshire with her husband Jonathan. She is the author of Dadland, which won the 2016 COSTA biography award.

keggiecarew.co.uk