Tina Foster reviews The Square by Rosie Millard
This first book by the journalist and broadcaster is a triumph. She has pitched her comedy of manners in a London square housing the aspirational bourgeoisie. The inhabitants of the Square range from families to an elderly eccentric artistic couple. We meet a lottery winner, a piano teacher, a nymphomaniac and a range of other delightful characters with the stresses of having not quite enough money to pursue their comfortable lifestyles.
The square needs some communal fencing and none of the residents has sufficient spare capital to fund this, so they decide 
to fund raise by holding a talent contest. This provides a melting pot in which to mix the diverse characters and age groups and produce a comedy worthy of any social commentator writing in the last 100 years.
The protagonists also include a minor TV celebrity, families from the lower social strata, a highly talented au pair and a challenging imaginative only child. Throw in plenty of self-important people, adulterous sex, and social misdemeanors and you have a middle-class romp to generate much mirth.
I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to all who need cheering up or just to bring pleasure and amusement to their life.
Not just is it well written, crafted even but it flows without the need to wonder where we are or who is involved. This is real life but better.
Published by Legend Press on 2nd August in paperback RRP £8.99
