Bestselling writer India Knight explores the inevitable panic that family and Christmas bring in her third novel Comfort and Joy . 'I'd say Christmas was about hope. Yeah. Hope. And optimism. It's like the fairy tales in the window: for families, every Christmas is a new opportunity for Happy Ever After. No pressure, then.' Oxford Street, two shopping days left to Christmas, and wife and mum Clara Dunphy is desperately, madly trying to make everything, not perfect, but just right for her extended family on the greatest day of the year.

But then she gets distracted. 'Will make you laugh, maybe make you cry and keep you reading past bedtime' Lauren Laverne, Grazia 'A hilarious, bawdy, yet touching portrait of Christmas' Jilly Cooper, Guardian 'Hilarious and honest; the dialogue is sitcom-snappy and the opening scenes in Oxford Street positively Joycean' Daily Mail India Knight is the author of four novels: My Life on a Plate , Don't You Want Me , Comfort and Joy and Mutton. Her non-fiction books include The Shops , the bestselling diet book Neris and India's Idiot-Proof Diet, the accompanying bestselling cookbook Neris and India's Idiot-Proof Diet Cookbook and The Thrift Book. India is a columnist for the Sunday Times and lives in London with her three children.Follow India on Twitter @indiaknight or on her blog at http://indiaknight.tumblr.com.