The Diary of Isabella M Smugge

Ruth Leigh

ISBN: 9781912726400

256 Pages

Published Feb 2021

Fiction

Paperback £9.99 Kindle £2.99
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Meet Isabella Smugge – as in ‘Br-uge-s’, naturally! Instagram influencer, consummate show-off and endearingly self-unaware. With a palatial home, charming husband and three well-mannered children, she is living the Country Life dream.

Newly arrived in the country, Isabella is ready to bring a dash of London glamour to the school gate and gain a whole new set of followers – though getting past the instant coffee, terrible hair and own-brand sausage rolls may be a challenge!

But as her Latvian au pair’s behaviour becomes increasingly bizarre and a national gossip columnist nurses a grudge, Isabella finds herself in need of true friends and begins to wonder if her life really is as picture-perfect as she thought…

The first novel in the Isabella M Smugge series.

  • Ruth Leigh’s writing is sharp, contemporary and funny. Her main character, Isabella Smugge, takes lack of self-awareness to new heights but, right from the start, there are signs that she has hidden and perhaps tragic depths. Leigh’s unique and cutting social commentary reminds me of Austen but with added Instagram, selfies and hashtags. Readers will keep turning the pages to see whether Isabella is capable of redemption.

    Fran Hill, author of Being Miss and Miss, What Does Incomprehensible Mean?
  • Funny, smart, insightful. A Bridget Jones’s Diary for the Age of Influencers. Recommended as a much-needed tonic, with a gin on the side.

    Paul Kerensa, stand-up comedian, speaker and writer

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