Suggest some books for a friend please

[MissBoPeep]

I want to give a friend a book but have no isea of her taste. She bought me a Victoria Hislop which I don't think is her taste - but what is?
I like Sue Gee, Helen Dunmore, McEwan, Faulkes, Julian Barneds Elizabeth Taylor ( not that one), Penelope Lively, and a bit of detective with PD James, and Rankin.

I have in fact bought the friend The Lighthouse but it's got mixed reviews and might be a bit too deep.

She's a 45+ mum of 3 girls who'd like something escapism I think, not too raunchy and not too deep. A light-ish read as she's super busy and stressed all the time.

V hard to but=y for somebody if you don't know her taste.

One book I rec a lot is 'Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day' which is a lovely old fashioned romantic escapism book. The DVD is lovely too and the 2 together plus some nice chocs would make a sweet gift imho.

buy

The Observations by Jane Harris is excellent. Mysterious and entertaining with a quirky narrative voice.

Cathy Kelly? I love her earlier ones, anything from Past Secrets onwards is in a really different style and are almost like someone else wrote them but the ones before that are great.
Or maybe an anthology if you're not sure what she likes, although having said that, they do seem to be themed. If she likes a particular genre that you know of it might be worth a look though.

What about Where D'You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple? Just read it and zipped through it as its so readable. Not rubbish though.