This is a sharp, poignant and wickedly funny tale of love, heartache and disillusionment. Did her letter have something to do with Joan's abrupt disappearance from number forty-one? What to make of the long absences of her husband and Joan's, and of the two men's new, inseparable friendship? And why will no one else on Rathbone Road speak of Joan? As Eliza's own life seems to disintegrate, she finds that, despite the pity and embarrassment with which her neighbours greet her, she is at last being drawn into their lives - although not in the way she had once fantasised about. 238 reviews Eliza Peabody is one of those dangerously blameless women who believe they have God in their pocket.Her beauty, her religion, her concern for friends and neighbours give her - she thinks - an oracular power. It is just such a one-sided correspondence that heralds Eliza's undoing. The Queen of the Tambourine by Jane Gardam 3.59 The Queen of the Tambourine Jane Gardam 3.59 1,486 ratings238 reviews An alternative cover for this ISBN can be found here Eliza believes she could never hurt anybody. Her concern for the welfare of her wealthy south London neighbours even extends to ingenuous, well-meaning notes of unsolicited advice under the door. The Queen of the Tambourine (1991), by Jane Gardam Winner of the 1991 Whitbread Award, The Queen of the Tambourine is Jane Gardam’s fourth novel, written well before Old Filth (2004) which is the novel which brought her to my notice.

She is a modern-day Florence Nightingale, always up at the Hospice or the Wives' club she is too enthusiastic she talks too much. Eliza Peabody is one of those dangerously blameless women who believe they have God in their pocket.

The queen of the tambourine