Tish Marches On

Book excerpt: The charmingly batty old maid is off to the coronation to save the king in this “hugely entertaining” novel from the #1 New York Times–bestselling author (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). A naive observer might not immediately see a connection between the newspaper accounts of a man found naked on a church steeple, a constable attacked from the sky, and a grocer assaulted by “balloon bandits.” But these stories are tied together by a single word: Tish, the nutty maid who has never let old age get in the way of a good time. When her nephew announces a trip to England to write about the Coronation, Tish demands to come along. Fearing a diplomatic incident, her nephew refuses, but Tish resolves to find another way. It’s not long before she takes to the air—and the sky will never be the same. In these stories, Tish and her friends advise young lovers on bad haircuts, contend with fish in Florida and bears in the far west, and narrowly avoid confrontation with the waxworks at Madame Tussaud’s. With her unwavering, destructive enthusiasm, this sprightly old spinster gives new meaning to the phrase “young at heart.”