Overview

It may be quiet in the suburbs, but it's far from peaceful . . . Oak Drive nestles tidily in an unassuming English town. Its uniform gardens overlook a small common and grand oak tree, which the street's residents survey with smug pride. It's a place where it pays to sweat the small stuff. Bins should be placed back in position in a timely fashion, noise kept to a minimum past 9 pm. Sometimes, however, big problems come a calling - and all hell can break loose in sleepy suburbia. Common Decency chronicles the lives and interactions of these neighbours, as they band together to save their tree from destruction at the hands of developers. As tensions rise and repressed resentments seep out, the secrets of Oak Drive threaten to shatter the well-ordered veneer, revealing some rather more surprising truths. . .

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9781529397512

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Reviews

A fantastic frothy read about suburbia with all Tom Allen's great style, teasing but tender-hearted. Make it a sit com! -- Jacqueline Wilson, international #1 bestselling author A deliciously witty suburban comedy of manners with real bite, shot through with Tom Allen's trademark humour. A brilliant debut novel! -- Terry Deary, international #1 bestselling author Tom is a born storyteller and his acerbic wit, wicked humour and instinctive humanity combine triumphantly in Common Decency. His characters are brilliantly observed and comfortingly familiar, and the minutiae of their lives were as compelling as their dramas. I read it over two sittings and I LOVED IT! -- Ruth Hogan, SUNDAY TIMES bestselling author Ever wonder what's behind the twitching curtains in a respectable leafy middle-class suburb? Here's your answer with knobs on. Charming and comical with a sardonic raised eyebrow. Very Tom Allen! -- Jo Brand, SUNDAY TIMES bestseller Tom writes with a perfect comic voice, about a place no one knows better, suburbia. A beautiful book about a much ignored area of British life -- Josh Widdicombe

Tom is a born storyteller and his acerbic wit, wicked humour and instinctive humanity combine triumphantly in Common Decency. His characters are brilliantly observed and comfortingly familiar, and the minutiae of their lives were as compelling as their dramas. I read it over two sittings and I LOVED IT! -- Ruth Hogan, SUNDAY TIMES bestselling author

A fantastic frothy read about suburbia with all Tom Allen's great style, teasing but tender-hearted. Make it a sit com! -- Jacqueline Wilson, international #1 bestselling author A deliciously witty suburban comedy of manners with real bite, shot through with Tom Allen's trademark humour. A brilliant debut novel! -- Terry Deary, international #1 bestselling author Absolutely fantastic, I love Tom Allen! -- Sara Cox, SUNDAY TIMES bestseller Genuinely charming, and so well-written. With Tom Allen in charge of the narrative you know you will be held from the first page to the last. Some beautiful close-up characterisation, and always the sense that something big is about to go very wrong or very right for the central characters. I kept coming back to this book just to enjoy the sheer richness of these ordinary lives. Read this book instead of doom-scrolling and you will go to bed happy. Sharp and clever, just like Tom -- Jeremy Vine, SUNDAY TIMES bestseller Tom is a born storyteller and his acerbic wit, wicked humour and instinctive humanity combine triumphantly in Common Decency. His characters are brilliantly observed and comfortingly familiar, and the minutiae of their lives were as compelling as their dramas. I read it over two sittings and I LOVED IT! -- Ruth Hogan, SUNDAY TIMES bestselling author Ever wonder what's behind the twitching curtains in a respectable leafy middle-class suburb? Here's your answer with knobs on. Charming and comical with a sardonic raised eyebrow. Very Tom Allen! -- Jo Brand, SUNDAY TIMES bestseller Tom writes with a perfect comic voice, about a place no one knows better, suburbia. A beautiful book about a much ignored area of British life -- Josh Widdicombe A confident move into fiction from the witty and charming comedian, with a sharp and affectionate dissection of stultifying suburbia and the garden-variety weirdos who call it home -- Justin Myers

Author Information

With his signature acerbic wit and riotous storytelling, Tom Allen has cemented himself as a household name and star on both stage and screen. He's best known as the hilarious co-host of Cooking with the Stars alongside Emma Willis and is a regular on Bake Off: An Extra Slice. He's the author of two critically acclaimed memoirs: No Shame, which was a Sunday Times bestseller, and Too Much. Common Decency is his debut novel. Tom's sold-out Completely tour of 2023 and 2024 was extended multiple times, selling over a hundred and fifty thousand tickets. He co-hosts the hit podcast Like Minded Friends alongside Suzi Ruffell, and can also be seen and heard hosting his brand-new visualised podcast Pottering, where he invites you into his garden for a chat and a stroll, alongside some very special guests.

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