Oh, I Love That Book!

I took a book to read in the dentist's waiting room. I had recently decided to reread this book again because I love it. It makes me laugh out loud, and is a good antidote to cold winters and depressing news reports. 
Traffic was good, and the journey to East Harling went very smoothly. I had left home in good time [two weeks before, there was one diversion and three lots of roadworks with temporary traffic lights] so I got there with 20 minutes in hand. I checked in, and then sat down, swapped driving glasses for reading glasses, and opened my book. 
A couple of minutes later, the door opened. In came a mum, with baby in pram, and Grandma bringing up the rear. The chap who was waiting leapt up and rearranged chairs to accommodate the bassinet. Everyone settled down, and then the young woman said "Oh, I love that book!" I realised she was talking about my paperback.

I quickly swapped over my glasses [she was seriously out of focus] and we spent the next 10 minutes talking about EMD's characters, and the perceptive descriptions of the children, and longsuffering husband Robert. I said I had one of those. "Does yours ever complain that he has not had sufficient breakfast?" she asked. "Occasionally" I said. This young Mum was utterly delightful, about the same age as my Liz [who also enjoys DOAPL] "I have never met anyone else before who has read it!" she enthused. "What do you think of the Vicar's Wife character?" she asked. We covered an awful lot of ground before she was called through to the treatment room. It quite took my mind off gloomy thoughts about the possibility of root canal work. [which mercifully did not materialise]
I don't seem to have ever reviewed this book on my blog, which surprises me. I think I last read it during the pandemic, when I was here on my own at Cornerstones, running Grandma's Nursery for Rosie. There had just been an article in the Guardian about the book, and it was already here on the shelf at Cornerstones.
You can pick it up and put it down without 'losing the thread' so it's ideal for an 'analogue bag' It won't be to everyone's taste - but if you are stuck for something different, please do give it a try! It's a first person narrative, similar to Three Men In A Boat in many ways. The punctuation is rather random, and she uses capitals frequently, so characters have names like Our Vicar's Wife, and she skips speech marks. You get a line like Then Lady B. said Did I Want Coffee? and I replied Not Just Yet. 
Perhaps I should write a book in this style
I was in John Lewis, and a Complete Stranger said You are our Neighbour Daphne. And when I said No, I was Angela, she pointed to my Beloved Husband, and asked Well why are You with Him? He looks just like Daphne's Boyfriend...
I suspect nobody would publish it