Rebuilding Coventry

By: Sue Townsend

Narrated by: Kate Lock

Coventry Dakin's tale begins with her accidental killing of her neighbour. Forced to flee the law, she deserts her council estate, her boring husband and two demanding children for the anonymity of London's cardboard city.

Originally published in 1988, Rebuilding Coventry is a brilliantly observed satire of Eighties Britain and the hypocrisy of the middle and upper classes.

©1988 Sue Townsend (P)2012 W F Howes

Critic reviews

"Proof, once more, that Townsend is one of the funniest writers around." ( The Times)

"Townsend's wit is razor-sharp" ( The Daily Mirror)

good read overall.

some early narration had bad accents. perceiver as it evens out. good story. interesting characters.

Painfully, irritating narration

The storyline was weak. I don’t mind light and frothy, but this was silly. The narrator doing different voices was incredibly irritating. Thank goodness this book was free on audible

I won't buy another Sue Townsend

I loved The Woman Who Went To Bed For A Year and keep thinking I'm going to find something equally entertaining and fun in one of Sue Townsend's books. Sadly they all have a super depressing feel to them. They are NOT the lift-your-spirits kind of books, they're the go-get-a-box-of-Prozac-before-reading kind! She tries to make the dismal and bleak sound funny but it's just not, it always falls flat into a garbage heap of grim madness.

This is the second book in a row now that I've not been able to stomach and finish (and I am a hardcore "I paid for this so I WILL finish it" kind of listener!) so I will definitely not be taking any chances on another Townsend novel. It's money wasted for me so I can only hope that she is spending it wisely and using it to pay for therapy.