I must admit I was sucked into this book by the effusive Doris Lessing cover endorsement – others by Hilary Mantel and Rose Tremain helped. Maggie Gee was a joy to discover; she brilliantly inhabits her characters with an expert blend of savage wit (often at the characters’ own expense) and gut-level empathy.

The story revolves around two women: Ugandan Mary, executive housekeeper at the Sheraton in Kampala and Londoner Vanessa Henman, an academic and bottom-rung novelist. Mary was once Vanessa’s beleaguered cleaner in London; unbeknownst to Vanessa, she has ‘borrowed’ her affable ex-husband Trevor, a plumber, to build a well in her home village. Vanessa is in Kampala too, invited at the last minute to a British Council writers’ conference in Mary’s hotel. Vanessa’s breathtaking gift for self-deception is the source of much humour. (‘As a feminist, she naturally approved of strong women, but two in one house wasn’t always easy.’)

The African locations are beautifully, effortlessly evoked, with local politics – and the politics of the Third World/Westerner divide – seamlessly woven into the story. Gee’s nuanced feel for her characters is especially impressive, turning readers’ expectations upside down when they least expect it. Funny, affecting and thoughtful.