Perfect on Paper by Gillian Harvey (top 20 books to read txt) 📕

boys, Dan, they really love me, you know? It’s like I’m in this little secret club and for once I’m the most important member.’

‘Dan, eh? The one with those come-to-bed eyes?’

‘Oh, it’s nothing like that,’ Clare said, perhaps a little too quickly. ‘I can’t explain it. It’s like I can be a whole different me when I’m there. A me who maybe hasn’t been able to take the reins much in my life so far.’ She may have mentioned to Steph that Dan was attractive, and seemed to see her. But she didn’t feel anything for him, not like that. Not really.

‘Crazy you?’

‘Fun me.’

‘I’ll take your word for it.’

‘Ha.’

‘Actually,’ her sister said, sounding more serious. ‘I do get it, you know. Sometimes having a bit of an escape, it just – well, it’s stress relieving isn’t it?’

‘That’s it. And, don’t say anything to anyone, but Dan reckons I’m actually good at it. And I sort of don’t want that bubble to burst. I don’t want people to laugh at me or say I’m ridiculous or whatever.’

‘You’re waiting until you’re on TV for that?’

‘That probably won’t happen,’ Clare swallowed. ‘I’m … I don’t know … If it does, I … Maybe people will like it.’

‘Course they will. You’re a Twitter sensation! Already a hashtag.’

‘Thanks, sis.’

Steph sighed. ‘I’d better go anyway, Wilbur’s grizzling. Guess he wants to drain my poor boobs again.’

‘Ouch, poor you.’

‘Yep. Still, keeps John off them I suppose!’

‘Steph!’

‘Yes, Martha?’

‘See you soon?’

‘Definitely.’

After the usual chaos of dinner time, Clare walked through to the living room with her coffee, half amazed and half aghast at how much debris had accumulated there over the last couple of days. Had she really been clearing up after her family to this extent all the time? And, if so, why hadn’t anyone mentioned the change, or thought to clear a bit of the mess themselves?

Rather than sit looking at it, or getting into an argument with Toby, who seemed intent on watching the news to see if his segment on remote controlled Zimmer frames had made it, she decided to go upstairs. ‘I’ll do a bit of reading in the bedroom,’ she said to Toby. ‘See you in a bit?’

‘Night love.’

‘Bloody family,’ she said to the cat, who was sitting on her duvet licking its arse. ‘At least you clean up after yourself, puss. Even if it does involve doing that.’

The cat jumped off the bed before regarding her haughtily and snaking around the half-open door onto the landing.

Settling onto her bed, Clare allowed herself a bit of social media time to unwind. She’d have a little scroll, read a bit of news – nothing political – then go to bed. It was either that, commit murder, or give in and do the washing-up – and she was determined not to fall for either temptation, at least for now.

Her news feed had helpfully provided her with a selection of random articles from different publications chosen through an algorithm based on her Google history. ‘Anti-ageing secrets of the over 40s!’, ‘Five diet tricks for losing weight!’, ‘Celeb Fashion Fails!’ and ‘People living in Hatfield are going wild for this new pizza recipe!’

Scrolling down, she stopped on an article towards the bottom of the page. ‘Why Britain’s Women Need Martha B.’ It had been written by Felicity Bradshaw, who penned a column for one of the broadsheets once a week.

Feeling sick, Clare clicked on the link and there in high resolution was a photo of her leering into the camera, brows furrowed, mouth in a snarl, shades thankfully obscuring any identifying features.

‘A new sensation leapt to our attention this week in the form of Martha B. – a middle-aged rapper on a mission to change the view of women of a certain age,’ the article began.

Backed by a dance troupe, Martha, forty-seven, bewitched the YouTube audience with her rap about the plight of the older woman.

But what is it about this slightly ordinary-looking woman that has captured viewers’ hearts? Is it her dance moves? (Probably not.) Her rapping? (Possibly.) Or is it simply that women up and down the land can see a little of themselves in Martha?

Who says that rappers have to be current and cool? Or that women have to quietly blend into the background at a certain age?

With her rap, which encourages listeners to see the ‘book’ rather than its ‘cover’, Martha has set down a challenge to the people of the UK – don’t write others off because of their age. And never, ever, underestimate a middle-aged woman.

As a campaigner for women’s rights, I myself have come in for criticism over my appearance – have found myself seen but not heard. And I for one applaud Martha B. for bringing this important issue into the public conscience.

Read more of Stephanie’s Hard Truths in tomorrow’s Chronicle.

Clare sat, stunned, for a moment. Could it really be that through a little YouTube rehearsal clip she was touching a nerve with women all over the country? She’d felt so alone a couple of weeks ago, but now it seemed as if everyone was in her corner – even if they didn’t actually know who she was. Although she was a little disgruntled that they’d marked up her age by a decade.

The bedroom door opened and Clare quickly flicked back to the homepage, as if somehow by hiding a story that had already been shared over three thousand times she could avoid her husband seeing it.

‘Hi, love,’ he said, dropping his trousers without ceremony, stepping out of them and kicking them into the corner, before beginning to unknot his tie. ‘Finishing up a bit of work?’

‘Something like that.’

The tie also hit the carpet and was kicked in the direction of the laundry basket. ‘Good dinner tonight,’ Toby said, unbuttoning his shirt to reveal a slightly grey vest. When had he started to wear vests? ‘Kids ate well.’

‘Yeah,’ she said, watching as item after item hit the carpet without even an attempt to pile them together or put them