Books by Lucy Mangan

A love letter to the joys of childhood reading from Wonderland to Narnia.Lucy brings the favourite characters of our collective childhoods back to life - prompting endless re-readings, rediscoveries, and, inevitably, fierce debate - and brilliantly uses them to tell her own story, that of a born, and unrepentant, bookworm.

Will Lucy make it down the aisle? It's going to be an uphill struggle . . . The bride: A late starter in life, Lucy always swore she'd never get married. But now she has to find a caterer who doesn't charge a fortune for a cupcake, a dressmaker who doesn't make her cry and a way to bring Great-Auntie Betty down from Dundee for the sixpence she is willing to spend - isn't it meant to be HER special day? The groom: Christopher has spent twenty minutes compiling his guest list and checking his suit fits before returning to his newspaper - this wedding business isn't so hard after all. The mother of the bride: Armed with colour-coded wedding planning folders she is all set. However, twice-daily conversations with her daughter don't seem to be shortening the 'to-do' list she's drawn up. The father of the bride: A wedding? My daughter? Who's she marrying? The best friend: Gillian has stood by Lucy through thick and thin, but she is refusing to be a bridesmaid and wear a daft dress.

HOPSCOTCH & HANDBAGS is a riotous journey through girlhood into womanhood, covering family, friendships and first snogs, whilst not forgetting to take in all the really important stuff - like how how to negotiate the minefield of the female body and why it's never good to weep at work.