A truly funny, intelligently told story that takes you deep into someone else's life

'Should be read for Barker's glittering prose ... Venetia is a disarmingly wry and engaging narrator with a keen eye for nature and the follies of urban chic' Financial Times

'A positive hymn to provincial living, it is an entertaining celebration of family life with all its highs, lows and eccentricities' The Times

When Venetia Summers's husband runs off with his masseuse, the bohemian idyll she has strived to create for her young family suddenly loses some of its rosy hue. From her tumble-down cottage in Norfolk she struggles to keep up with the chaos caused by her two boys, her splendid baby daughter and the hordes of animals, relatives and would-be artists that live in her home.

From juggling errant cockerels, jam-making frenzies and Warhammers, to unexpected romance, Bloody Mary's and forays into fashion design, Hens Dancing is like a rural Bridget Jones's Diary as it charts a year of Venetia's madcap household.