Spectacles

For days after that it was as if I'd died and gone to Heaven. The world was so full of beauty! . . . Seeing the world so clear felt like falling in love all over again . . . Iris's domineering Mother has just died. Iris is relieved to be free of her, and is then intrigued by what she finds when clearing out her mother's flat. It turns out Iris is illegitimate. So Iris isn't the person she'd thought she was. Perhaps she can reinvent herself now When Iris acquires a pair of spectacles, she gains a renewed focus on life. She gives us her visions of the world around her, a clear, sometimes painfully comic view of people, places and the meaning of life! This complicated woman shares some episodes from her life that move from gentle humour and pure farce to moments of tragedy and deep despair. Iris is always full of surprises, and she leaves the biggest surprise until the end of the novel, when she shocks the reader with most poignant, eye-opening revelation of all.