My mum always used to read Joanna Trollope. They were always lying about the house. I remember reading The Rector's Wife. Also, during my mum's illness I read another one whose title I've forgotten (was it Other People's Children?).

So, for holiday reading in France I thought JT should be amongst my books. I never used to understand what was meant by 'comfort food' but now I think that JT is the reading equivalent of comfort food.

The Men And The Girls was an easy and enjoyable read. An Aga saga, it's a tale of everyday life, and the inner lives of the characters, skillfully told by JT. Once thing I wondered was: why did they all put up with Leonard's bad behaviour?

I cheered was when Leonard and Beatrice agreed that there was very little to be said for old age.