Publisher's Synopsis
What would happen if The Big Society had all the power?
The recession has just started to bite and money is short. The village hall treasurer is in hospital, repairs are needed and there are bills to be paid. Dutiful, long-suffering Chair of the committee, Belinda, seethes with resentment against those who regard her as insignificant. Determined to change her life, she embarks on a campaign of malevolent mantras to bring down her antagonists.
With little work about, Belinda's husband is forced to travel away from home to find employment and her part-time job at the library is under threat. She takes a 'maternal' interest in a handsome young illegal immigrant she finds lodging in the hall loft; after all, her son is about to leave home and her daughter seems to have set her heart on becoming the school's centre of attention- and not in a good way.
A chance meeting with Marnie, who has had a tough and varied life, takes both women on different but intertwined paths. Each envies the other's situation, but as Marnie's star rises, Belinda's falls. Both funny and poignant, Duty and Delusion suggests what might happen if restrictions were abandoned and The Big Society were left to get on with it.
