It was a pleasure, on Friday evening, to attend the launch party for Susi Osborne’s latest book Happiness is a Thing With Wings. Published in August, it had it’s first official outing in London, but this was an opportunity to meet her readers on home ground.

I first met Susi five or six years ago when she came to my local book group to discuss her writing. It’s surprising that our paths had never crossed earlier given that we’d both worked for our local library service. We have however met a number of times since at Northwich Lit Fest events. As organiser, Northwich Lit Fest is another feather in Susi’s multi-feathered cap.

The evening was a lovely relaxed affair, not unexpectedly, given Susi’s own relaxed and open personality. Opening with an insight into her writing process and the motivations behind the book, Susi then treated us all to a couple of extracts from the book. A lively Q&A followed before we all got a chance to get our hands on the book. Happy to say I now have another signed copy for my collection and I’m looking forward to discovering more about Joanna, Susi’s latest protagonist.

About the Book

Joanna is approaching the end of her forties and the empty nest syndrome looms. She consoles herself with gin and chocolate, realising that apart from raising her son Jack, she has achieved absolutely nothing.

Somewhat on the plus side of plump and barely five feet tall, she finds it difficult not to envy her younger, prettier sister. Such elevated elegance seems so unfair – as does Hannah’s successful marriage. Joanna, in contrast, has remained in a loveless marriage for the past thirty years, stuck in a rut with the most miserable man on the planet but not having the impetus to get out.

It takes an embarrassing but hilarious encounter in the supermarket to make her realise what she’s been missing. It’s exactly the push she needs to make her change her life. With a little encouragement, Joanna starts to regain her independence, finally leaving her grumpy husband to enjoy life as a single woman. As she attempts to rebuild her own future, her family and friends continually surprise her with their own revelations.

Life is never dull, laughter never far away; can Joanna finally find true happiness within herself at last?

About Susi

Susi Osborne is the author of The Ripples of Life, Grace & Disgrace, Secrets, Lies & Butterflies and Angelica Stone. She lives in Cheshire with her Scottish husband, her actress daughter and her baby, and their two mischievous little dogs. Susi also has an adult son and a grandson who live nearby. Amongst friends their house is known affectionately (she hopes!) as the Osborne madhouse, for obvious reasons.

Before she became a writer, Susi worked in libraries for many years. She also worked as a classroom assistant in a junior school. In addition to her writing Susi organises Northwich LitFest,

which she has been running for the past ten years.

Susi is a firm believer in the fact that it’s never too late to do anything. ‘You only have one life – go out and grab it with both hands!’ She loves to hear from her readers and is also available to give talks at festivals, events, libraries and reading groups.