A Note Of Parting, by Liz Ryan (Coronet, £5.99 in UK)

Don't be misled by the cover, a soft focus fishing village affair with a child standing forlornly on a sunlit beach; Liz Ryan is smart and funny and she writes well, and if she turns her hand to popular fiction you can be sure she'll eschew the obvious. And sure enough, though A Note of Parting (dreadful title) opens with the inevitable poverty stricken rural childhood, it swiftly transfers to London, where the potential for new cultural experiences is seized upon with glee. The writing throughout is straightforward, unfussy and - unlike much of what is categorised as "easy reading" - actually easy to read.