Book review: An Englishwoman in New York, By Anne-Marie Casey

Life at the school gates is a familiar starting-point for hen-lit novels, but Casey's entertaining debut gives the scenario a sophisticated twist.

Lucy, the eponymous Englishwoman, has relocated to Manhattan with her demoted husband and young children. Isolated in the trendy East Village, she walks the streets hoping nobody will notice she's middle-aged.

Life improves dramatically when fellow parents, Julia, Christy and Robyn, introduce her into their world. Like Sex and the City, only with less sex: it's Lucy's slow-burn passion for her adopted town that really lights up the page.