It was a cold night but a sizeable gang of "women of a certain age" had gathered to hear comedian Jo Brand talk about her latest novel, It's Different For Girls.

The Word festival format was simple - a reading, chat with writer-in-residence Peter Guttridge and questions from the floor. The book extract drew plenty of hearty and well-deserved laughter and the conversation flowed naturally and, of course, amusingly.

Topics ranged from Dickens to Big Brother, from the lack of women flashers to the facts she has never left her children overnight and avoided the C-word in her book in case her parents read it.

It was all very entertaining, though I felt like the wicked fairy at a christening as she frequently mentioned her hatred of critics or "hideous sadistic monsters".

After a particularly slanderous comment about a well-known TV partnership she suddenly said: "I hope The Argus isn't in tonight". But my lips are sealed. She's too likeable and honest to grass on.