I read via Pigeonhole and it was wonderful to have Matson so involved, giving us insights into his research and talking about 1960's Yorkshire. An absolutely stunning, first class debut - please please Matson Taylor let us know how Evie gets on in her new chapter of her life, she now feels like a lifelong friend (I’m already missing her) and with gorgeous Caroline by her side, the world is her oyster! We then learn the reason she's flying on her milk-delivery round is because she's borrowed her father's pride and joy, his MG. Which she's not supposed to drive. And the reason she's borrowed it is because she and her friend celebrated their O levels by getting drunk on a mix of spirits Evie pilfered from her father's drinks cabinet the night before and she woke late and hungover for her milk-delivery.

Matson Taylor’s sparkling debut “The Miseducation of Evie Epworth” is instantly addictive, witty, uplifting and very realistic. Featuring sixteen (and a half) year old, Adam Faith’s number one fan Evie Epworth (tall as a tree and wise as time) she made a truly endearing young narrator that you couldn’t help fall in love with. Evie, our "heroine", is a 16 year old (who comes across as a 10 year old), the daughter of a farm owner, or "the naive father", who seemed besotted by a 22 year old, or "the evil step mother". The "perfect mother" died when Evie was just a baby and nobody ever told her anything about this maternal figure. As I read the book sometimes I had the feeling that the characters (family members, neighbours...) had just met!! And I could go on and on... There are some funny situations described, but overall they don't contribute to the plot or the main storyline. Now Christine is the one character in this book that I don’t think anyone likes. She is the gold digging villain of the story that you can’t help but want to see fail. She took the term evil step-mother and fully embodied it. The pleasure I felt when Evie was trying to rid her life of all things Christine was second to none and the dialogue between these two characters was written perfectly. The fastest milk bottle-delivery girl in East Yorkshire, Evie is tall as a tree and hot as the desert sand. She dreams of an independent life lived under the bright lights of London (or Leeds). The two posters of Adam Faith on her bedroom wall (‘brooding Adam’ and ‘sophisticated Adam’) offer wise counsel about a future beyond rural East Yorkshire. Her role models are Charlotte Bronte, Shirley MacLaine and the Queen. But, before she can decide on a career, she must first deal with the malign presence of her future step-mother, the manipulative and money-grubbing Christine.

I am thrilled to have spent a few days in the delightful company of Evie Epworth, the heroine of Matson Taylor's début novel, The Miseducation of Evie Epworth. What a hoot this novel turned out to be! Set in Yorkshire in 1962, sixteen-year-old, Adam Faith-loving, Evie lives with her widowed dad, Arthur, and Christine, a woman who is set on marrying him. Evie is not a fan, and thinks her father can do much better, and she also needs to decide what she wants to do with her own life now that she's finished school. What happens next is exceptionally compelling...

What I liked in this story was the past narrative of Evie's parents relationship. Here we got to see a different side to Arthur, the side that showed Evie's mother was his world. I found myself intrigued by Evie's obsession about the kind of Woman she'd become. On observing two older women - one lean, the other overweight - she wonders "How many different versions of Woman can there be? (And, even more importantly, which version will I be?)" p 29 What a charming and delightful read this was, full of laugh out loud moments as well as gentle humour as Evie Epworth navigates the minefields of finishing school and becoming a Woman. One of my friends loved this debut novel by Matson Taylor but it still took me months to get to it and I am so thankful I did. In fact, although I was keen for something light... a good psychological thriller about some murderous psychopath; from the opening lines of this novel I was transported into Evie's world. It's written in first person from 16 year old Evie's point of view and almost akin to stream-of-consciousness thinking. Taylor gives Evie a really delightful voice and this is a quirky and often-funny read. At the same time however, there are moments of poignancy, some of which come as a result of life experience and realising things young Evie does not.I loved the characterisation, as each of the characters were bursting with vitality and so very unique in their own way.

I read this via The Pigeonhole over the course of ten days and in ten daily installments. Every day I finished one stave I wanted more and more. I was also approved for a copy via Netgalley, but managed to control my impulse to rush on ahead as the community reading on The Pigeonhole is such a great experience. Matson Taylor doesn’t stop their though and he introduces us to a whole community to love. Mrs Scott-Pym was my favourite of the supporting characters. Her kind nature and motherly attitude towards Evie melted my heart. Evie had found a sanctuary in that house and you could feel the love between these two characters. As much as Evie helped Mrs Scott-Pym I also felt the older woman learnt a thing or two from Evie too. Such a joyful and uplifting read. Just the sort of thing that people will want to be reading right now.’ Anita Rani, Radio 2 Book Club

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If Evie can rescue her bereaved father, Arthur, from Christine’s pink and over-perfumed clutches, and save the farmhouse from being sold off then maybe she can move on with her own life and finally work out exactly who it is she is meant to be. Selection panel review The Miseducation of Evie Epworth tells the story of Evie, aged 16 and struggling to know what to do with her life. She lives in a small Yorkshire village with her Dad and awful Step-mother. However, Evie has some wonderful friends to give her a hand.