Cordial and Corrosive - Sophie Hannah

"Cordial and Corrosive" (subtitled "An Unfairy Tale") is the second novel (of four, to date) by novelist and poet Sophie Hannah and is probably my favourite - I'm a big fan of Sophie's writing in general, but am particularly attached to this one. The novel was published in 2000 when the author was twenty-eight years old. Based in the fictional Cambridge college of Summerton, it could, I suppose, be described as a campus comedy à la Malcolm Bradbury and David Lodge, but differs from these in several respects, not least the fact that it is both written and narrated by a woman. Furthermore, narrator Kate is - refreshingly - not an academic but a driving ...