I really enjoy Clare Chambers books. I love the characters in this book and found it very heartwarming and couldn't wait to get back to it everytime I sat it down.
Would definitely recommend this.

Clare Chambers’ Shy Creatures captivates from the first page, immersing readers in an intriguing tale of hidden pasts and complex relationships. The story revolves around William, who has spent years in isolation with his spinster aunts. As Helen, an art therapist at a psychiatric hospital, delves into his mysterious past, larger questions emerge—questions of control, protection, and the blurred lines between love and power. Chambers masterfully explores how status and relationships can shape one's autonomy, probing the possibility of healing from past trauma. The conclusion is thoughtful and satisfying, leaving readers much to reflect on. A compelling, beautifully written novel, this is a must-read for anyone seeking depth and insight. I’ll be watching for more from Chambers.

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Shy creatures.

65% read. I found it a long read. I struggled with this. Even though the story was good it seemed to drag. It took a long time to read and eventually I thought I need a break as it doesn't seem to have gone very far but then my loan expired so I dont know how it ends.
I really enjoyed small pleasures so i wanted to love this. The style of writting is beautiful and the part I read was very descriptive but I just wasnt gripped by this one.

Clare Chambers took her inspiration for this 1960s set story from an article she read about a Bristol man who was discovered naked and dishevelled, with long hair and beard, living as a recluse with an elderly aunt. Apparently he had existed under the radar of neighbours and the authorities for decades, with huge historical events all passing him by. It's a fascinating premise and what Chambers does with story once the man is discovered is both clever and interesting. She is very skilled at getting inside her characters and possesses a humanity and compassion for all of them that allows us to empathise with even the very worst of them I really enjoyed this novel.

Such a beautiful book. An engaging read with a captivating story. I enjoyed the writing so much I’m planning to read it again later in the year.

I am always interested in the way that mid century /post war Britain Is portrayed in literature, and Clare Chambers has once again shown us how it is done. In her latest novel she introduces us to Helen, an art therapist working in a mental health hospital in Croydon, and her new patient, William. While Helen is likeable and relatable, it is William who will steal your heart - both the traumatised and confused man we meet in 1964 and the boy we learn about as his back story is revealed.
I highly recommend this intelligent and accessible literary novel. It will stay with me.

I thoroughly enjoyed Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers. The story revolves around Westbury Park hospital and new patient, William, who has been discovered in a nearby house living unknown to locals.

The development of the story is so well handled as William’s (and his friends) past is teasingly revealed in chapters that go back to his childhood and explain how he ended up where he was found.

A wonderfully told story, I would highly recommend this and Clare Chambers’ other novels.

Hauntingly Beautiful, and Achingly Sad.....this latest offering from Clare Chambers is compulsive reading.
The duel timelines of 1930s and 1960s Britain give this story an interesting depth. You feel the mood of post war Britain, and you see how issues such as mental health and childhood abuse were regarded back then.
Essentially the power of acts of kindness, both big and small are the saving grace here.

Beautifully written - the characters rang true and once again Clare Chambers description of the inner lives of "quiet" characters produces something moving.

After reading this, I am very excited to dive into Clare Chambers’ back catalogue and see what other wonders she’s conjured up. This book was a beautiful, sad telling of 1964 Croydon suburbia with gentle characters who you truly felt like you knew. I really loved it, and can imagine it being made into a daytime ITV drama 🦡

Having read Clare Chambers' previous release, 'Small Pleasures', I was intrigued to see where she was going next. This shared a lot of similar themes with 'Small Pleasures' and I felt the same feelings when reading. However, whilst I would have preferred the two novels to be more different, I did enjoy 'Shy Creatures' much more. I thought she had developed the themes of infidelity, childhood trauma and post war Britain in a more interesting and well rounded way. William's character was fascinating and I thought she depicted the two settings of William's childhood home and the Kenley's cottage really affectingly.

Brilliant novel once again by Clare Chambers, I was hooked. Well rounded characters and an interesting story. Having loved Small Pleasures I was super excited to get an ARC.

The year is 1964 and we follow the story of Helen, she works as a art therapist in a psychiatric hospital (never knew they existed but what an amazing job to have) and when a 30 something year old man (William), who has been found mute and living in a shambles really with his Aunt, Helen starts to try and really help him with life and his artistic flair.

Well written and quite moving at times I found this novel to be.

Thanks to Clare Chambers, the author and publishers for allowing me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers is one of my favourite reads of 2024. It’s a story of families, relationships and secrets, set in the 1960s and developed from a true story. Helen is an art therapist who works in a psychiatric hospital and is having an affair with one of the consultants. They are called to a house to meet William, a 37 year-old man who’s been discovered in a house having not been out for many years. The storyline follows Helen and William’s journeys and those of their family. I loved the characters in this book, particularly William but also Helen’s niece Lorraine who gives a window into the life of a teenager in the 60s.
I’ll definitely be recommending this book and can’t wait to read the author’s other book and any more to come! With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I very much enjoyed the historical setting of this story, I am particularly interested in the post-war emergence of psychology and mental health treatments in "asylums". I had quite a dislike of one of the characters that continued throughout the story to detract from my enjoyment of the plot, I felt that although justice was served I still spent most of the story irritated by them.
It's an interesting and emotional story about mental health, societal pressures and the abuses of power that affect lives.

Much like Small Pleasures, Chambers' previous novel, this is a quiet, historical with deep themes surrounding relationships, identity and independence. This novel takes a real life story of a neglected man discovered by police and admitted to a psychiatric hospital and creates a fictional background to the event. Chambers explored mental health in the 1960s with accuracy and sensitivity and this book had propulsion as we flip between the past and find out more of how William, one of the protagonists ended up in the poor state in which he was found. I enjoyed this novel and think Chambers writes intelligent novels that are easy reads.
This honest review is given with thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.

Wow what an extraordinary book, my first read from Clare Chambers, and I’m mightily impressed. The writing is really quite exquisite, beautiful descriptions, and observations of the human condition, emotions and perceived madness. Set against a backdrop of 1960’s London suburbia and how neuro-diverse people were once seen.
This is also about the emerging awareness of how mental health was treated and understood after the second World War. It’s a hard read in places yet historically bang on!
The story centres around Helen starting at the mental hospital in Croydon as an art therapist and her experience of the different patients and their doctors. She quickly finds herself in an impossible relationship with one of the married psychiatrists, but their work together is key.
Beautifully observed and relayed, this book is a true gem, the narrative is so beautifully composed constructed and crafted. A joy to read.
I enjoyed this tale way more than I thought I would, I was completely drawn into the lives of the characters and their lives and circumstances.
Just brilliant!
Thank you NetGalley and W&N for the early read, fascinating and thoughtful. Highly recommended.

I’ve both been longing for and dreading the new Clare Chambers book.  She’s given herself so much to live up to with Small Pleasures which is one of my favourite books of the past few years.  It’s a huge relief therefore that this easily matches (and possibly even surpasses) the brilliance of the earlier book. 

Clare Chambers knows what she does well: she finds her interest piqued by an old newspaper clipping and builds her own story on it.  Just like Jean in Small Pleasures our heroine is a sensible, slightly thwarted but redoubtable middle-aged woman in an unlovely part of the 1960s London suburbs (here it is Croydon).

Just as in Small Pleasures there’s a lot of nostalgia reading about cocoa and biscuits, cricket matches and childhood pleasures splashing about in streams, at the same time as a wake-up call about the dangers of repressed emotions, stiff upper lips and enforced innocence.  The schoolboy William, and his eccentric aunts are incredibly endearing, and this book has the same emphasis as the earlier one on decency, female friendships and compassion.

Chambers is the master of observation.

This book manages to be cosy but, make no mistake, it’s also incredibly sad and dark and full of longing.  I don’t think I could love Clare Chambers more.  I’ve read some great books this year but this is top of the list for me.

Shy Creatures
By Clare Chambers

When Clare Chambers read a newspaper article about a bedraggled man unknown to neighbours, who was found, following a fracas evolving clothes flung out a window, living in squalor with his elderly aunt, she was moved to imagine what has happened in his life that he spent 25 years as a recluse only to emerge childlike, almost naked, with 5 ft long hair, a 2ft long beard and mute.

As a child I clearly remember a similar situation occuring in Finglas, not far from where I grew up, and I was immediately drawn to the premise, albeit with trepidation, because the woman involved in my neighbourhood has remained in my heart for 50 years and I have a protective feeling about how a story like this should be told. (Side eye at Sally Diamond)

This is my first Clare Chambers and I'm relieved to say that this story is in good hands.

There is an old fashioned quality to the storytelling, and I mean that in a positive way. There are 2 timelines, one set in 1960's beginning with the grim discovery and the medical and psychiatric treatment employed, and the 2nd is a reverse timeline from earlier in the 60's back to the 1930's, which resolves the layered reasons that William and his aunts ended up the way they did.

The main protagonist is Helen, an art therapist, who is involved in an illicit relationship with Clive, a colleague, one of the psychiatrists at Westbury Park, where William is admitted for treatment and recovery. They, like most of the characters are deeply flawed, but utterly relatable.

Chambers chose the 60's setting because she considered it an interesting time in the history of psychiatry, and her deep research of both that field and of the social and cultural period really pays off, giving this book such an air of authenticity that I almost believed it had been written in that time, by someone with the sensibilities of the time.

Despite the tragic circumstances of William and his squandered youth, the book is imbued with much humour and some shenanigans that would have been too scandalous to laugh about in the sixties.

A highly entertaining story that turns a lens on the many versions of mental illness, and the thin veil that separates the patient from the healer.

Publication date: 29th August 2024
Thanks to #NetGalley and #OrionPublishing for access to the eGalley

Small Pleasures in 2021 introduced a wider audience to the writing of Clare Chambers and following this brilliant novel her new book Shy Creatures should most certainly have the same success

Similarly this story predominantly focuses on the post war decades 1940s-1960s. This is a cleverly woven plot and follows the life of Helen Hansford - a single art teacher working within a psychiatric hospital - who is having an affair with a 'charismatic ' doctor/therapist who happens to be married to a second cousin. The novel focuses upon Helen's choices and how she questions herself to live her life in the way she truly wants especially against the growing backdrop of the emancipation of post war women in England.

The premise is set for what seems a romantic novel focussed upon Helen - her family and relationships and life within the institute but the story takes an intriguing turn when two new patients are submitted to the hospital - one is the mysterious William Tapping who has been found living inside a house for over two decades - never having been allowed to join the 'outside world; the other patient is Helen's teenage niece Lorraine who appears to be behaving 'oddly' at home.

The story of William who has lived enclosed in the home of three aunts is told in a series of reverse chronological incidents - why is William 'trapped' and what led to this when he just entering his teens? The story of William is gradually explored and exposed by Helen whilst she also tries to ensure her niece is subjected to medicinal treatments that could have a longer harmful impact. The story of William is beautifully told and is heartbreaking in many ways- a single event transforming the life of a child.

The story moves at a good pace and the characters of Helen and William are truly engaging

Clare Chambers captures period details, suppressed English emotions and the interaction within families and work communities just perfectly. This is a moving story of caring, love ,finding identity and being allowed to be your true self and sensitively explores the frailties within people.

Highly recommended - another winner.

Clare Chambers is fast becoming one of my go-to authors. Like so many, I thoroughly enjoyed Small Pleasures and The Editor's Wife, and again, this is a very satisfying read. Her ability to capture characters' voices is admirable and never falters throughout. There is a compassion for them which shines through and especially highlights the constraints people lived under in times gone by. Equally impressive is how she captures a time she didn't live through so authentically. Another gem - deserves a wide readership




With many thanks to Netgalley for my copy of this wonderful read.