Alison - Lizzy Stewart, Serpent's Tail

'Alison is Posy Simmonds meets Edward Bawden - and really, what higher praise could there be?' ObserverSubtle and deliciously complicated, this is a big book on big subjects, but lightly, elegantly done. I loved it' Tessa Hadley, author of Free LoveAlison is newly married, barely twenty and struggling to find her place in the world. A chance encounter with an older artist upturns her life and she forsakes convention and her working-class Dorset roots for the thrumming art scene of London in the late seventies.As the thrill of bohemian romance leads inevitably to disappointment, Alison begins to find her own path - through art, friendship and love. 'This book is a testament to the right to choose your own life' Jessica Andrews, author of Saltwater'A delicious portrait of 80s and 90s London and a more universal tale of a working-class young woman making a life in a world that has not been designed for the likes of her. For all its effortlessness [...] Alison ends up carrying a great emotional heft.It's a lovely book, and I cried at the end.' Guardian