I read David Newby’s stories with great pleasure and admiration. One can hear a loving, inner laughter in every sentence, which others might perhaps call 'humour'. A deeply humane laughter, borne of that love which the French call 'la Comédie Humaine'. One falls in love with the characters, they are drawn with a fine irony, similar to the English-language ‘Biedermeier’ or Jane Austen's Regency novels.

I loved the book. On the content level, the stories reminded me of David Lodge, but the language is even better. It’s full of puns and idioms that roll smoothly one after the other. I must have had a smile on my face all the way through the book.

I really enjoyed the rich language and the way the author plays with well‐known proverbs. The different stories all have their own character but they are connected by a common theme and style. The book is a quick read but with all the references and topics raised it gives you enough to think about. I was especially fond of the dry and subtle humor.

A "very British" pleasure to read, witty and entertaining: „We’re concerned with literary fiction, not with our own personal reality.’ ’I don’t see how you can separate them,’ says Joy.” (Original quotation page 173, 174)
Content:

This book contains six short novels: The Bird’s Trilogy, Culture Lovers, Carol’s Christmas, Joy of Man’s Desiring, Framing, The Reading Circle. Each story has different main characters, men and women in a relationship, but definitely focuses on the female protagonists. One of the stories is very amusing and special.
Themes:

All stories are about love, relationships and the British way of life, seen from different point of views and as adopted by different cultures and they all contain unexpected turns and twists. Language is important, not only connected to the content, but used in a splendid way, playing with idioms, giving words and phrases amusing new contexts, which makes the book a real pleasure to read and makes the reader not only smile but laugh out loud.
Conclusion:

Everyday life and marriage, including misunderstandings, humorously analyzed and described and told in a sensitive way, with subtle wit and irony.