The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

Set in London in 1922 and told from the point of view of Frances Wray, a woman in her twenties.  The story conveys the aftermath of war, how the class system is changing and how women are seizing these changes.  Frances would dearly love to be one of these women, but her sense of duty to her mother keeps her tied to the family home.  Her father has died and she has lost her beloved brothers in the war.  The Wrays are struggling to make ends meet.  They can no longer afford the luxury of servants and the daily chores of running the house falls to Frances.  We feel her resentment towards her father for his bad management of the family affairs.  Frances persuades her mother to take in some lodgers and the story begins with the arrival of Mr & Mrs Barber, a lively couple in their twenties.  At first the house feels strange with its new occupants and there are embarrassing moments when the daily minutia is played out such as accessing the outside toilet, but the bills have to be paid and the money is useful.  Frances is attracted to the colourful flighty Mrs Barber and, before long, the two become unlikely friends.  I liked the character of Frances – a woman keen to explore her sexuality, but reluctant to abandon her mother.  The descriptions are rich and vivid and I was easily transported to the place and time.    

Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty

I am a big fan of psychological thrillers and this book didn’t disappoint. The story opens in a courtroom with the narrator, Yvonne Carmichael, in the dock.  Yvonne is fifty-two years old, an eminent scientist with a good marriage and two grown up children.  Throughout her life she has always done what has been expected of her.  Then, on a visit to the House of Commons to talk at a select committee and she embarks on a seedy affair.  The affair provides a thrilling distraction from her ordinary life.  Soon Yvonne becomes obsessed with her lover.  She doesn’t know much about him and draws her own conclusions to what his profession is.  Things start to unravel rapidly and it is clear from the opening of the story that the outcome is going to have devastating consequences.  I liked the style of writing - it is written in the second person, as though the narrator is talking directly to the reader, which creates a feeling of intimacy.  Sometimes I found myself questioning if Yvonne would act in such a way and then I would turn the page to find some backstory that made things slot into place and her actions more believable.    

The Sea Garden By Deborah Lawrenson

I was lucky to hear Deborah read extracts from The Sea Garden at the Parisot Literary Festival last month.  It was made the more poignant as I finished reading it on Armistice Day.  The Sea Garden is made up of three linked novellas.  The first story is set in the present day and is about Ellie Brooke a young woman recently widowed, who travels to Porquerolles, an island off France’s Azure Coast.  Ellie is a landscape gardener and has been asked by a wealthy, eccentric client to restore a memorial garden at the Domaine de Fayols.  All is not what it seems though and, in contrast to the beautiful island, there are some dark, mysterious happenings at the Domaine de Fayols.  

The second story is set in 1944 at the height of the resistance movement in Provence.  It is the story of Marthe Lincel, a trainee perfume maker, who is blind.  Marthe is a character from Deborah’s previous novel The Lantern.  This story culminates in a resistance night flight operation, which is fraught with tension. 

The third story begins in the Second World War and is about Iris Nightingale a junior intelligence officer.   This is different in that it follows Iris from her war days to the present day when she is in her nineties.  It is in this story that the link between the three women becomes clear.  I enjoyed this story the most because it tied up all the loose ends.  The cover of The Sea Garden is stunning and you can almost smell the lavender fields of Provence thanks to Deborah’s sensuous writing.

The Shore by Sara Taylor

I was lucky to hear Sara read extracts from The Shore, her debut novel, at the Parisot Literary Festival. The book was long-listed for the 2015 Bailey’s Prize.  The Shore is a book of thirteen interwoven short stories, the earliest of which is set in 1876 and the latest in the future, in 2143. The setting is The Shore, a collection of small islands off the coast of Virginia.   It is a dark read, dealing with abusive relationships, so it’s not for the faint-hearted.  There is a strong sense of place seen through the eyes of the different narrators.  The stories ebb and flow just like the sea, which is a huge part of island life.  I was blown away by the vivid descriptions and heart felt emotion, which seem so right for the particular narrator, the time and the place.  My only criticism would be that some of the stories have similar themes and many of the female characters seemed obsessed with motherhood.  The structure of using connected short stories is interesting and the fact that they are not written in chronological order means the reader has to do some work, which I liked.   Different viewpoint styles make the narrators voice distinctive with some stories written in the first person, some in the third person and one in the second person.  There is a family tree at the start of the book and I kept having to refer to this to see how all the different characters were linked, but this wasn’t a problem and I found it added to the overall intrigue and kept me turning the pages.  The first two stories were my favourite.  I could read this book again.  I look forward to reading more from this author.

The Taxidermist's Daughter by Kate Mosse

The Taxidermist’s Daughter is a gothic thriller, set in 1912.  The story is told over a short time frame – just four days.  It is a story inspired by place, the village of Fishbourne in West Sussex with its marshes and wild weather and the reader gets a real sense of foreboding from the descriptions.   The heroine of the story is Connie Gifford, a young woman who, ten years before, had a serious accident resulting in amnesia.  Occasionally she glimpses moments from her past and these episodes always leave her bewildered and exhausted.  Her father was a famous taxidermist, but having turned to drink after Connie’s accident, and forced to sell his beloved museum, he no longer has the skills or the inclination to carry on.  Connie has inherited his gift and, although women aren’t meant to be taxidermists, practices the art successfully.  As the story unravels it becomes clear what happened on the night of Connie’s accident and what the consequences are.  I’ve been lucky to hear Kate Mosse talk about this novel at the Guildford Book Festival last year and at the Parisot Literary Festival last weekend, when she said she set out to write something completely different and had great fun writing it.  It is a bit gruesome in places, but an easy read.   

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

Theo Decker is thirteen when his mother is killed in an explosion in a New York museum.  Theo miraculously survives the blast and, whilst he is recovering, unable to find his mother, he comforts a dying man.  The man gives him a signet ring and an address and urges Theo to take a famous work of art, The Goldfinch, a painting that his mother loved and had been admiring before the blast.  Alone in the world he is taken in by the wealthy parents of Andy, a school friend.  He settles down to some normality, but is still struggling to accept his mother’s death.  He goes to the address given to him and meets Hobie, an antiques dealer/restorer.  He gives Hobie the ring, but omits to tell him about the painting.  He starts to visit Hobie more and more and finds it is the only place he feels at peace.  The authorities manage to trace his alcoholic father who takes him to live in Las Vegas.   It is here Theo meets Boris and the binge drinking, drug taking and stealing begins. Over the years, Theo keeps the painting thinking of it as his one link to his mother.  It is the painting that later leads him into the criminal underworld. I found the characters, with the exception of Hobie and Andy, fairly unpleasant, but that was ok as I found Theo interesting.  It is told from Theo’s point of view so the reader feels the emotional turmoil he is going through.  A long read at nearly 800 pages, I found the first half of the book gripping; the second half less so, when I became a little frustrated and found myself skimming sections.  That said I’m looking forward to reading The Secret History by Donna Tartt.    

The Memory Book By Rowan Coleman

The Memory Book is about Claire, a woman in her early forties who is a mother, a daughter and a wife.  Claire has recently been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s.   Her family relationships are complicated.  She raised her elder daughter, Caitlin, on her own and has just recently married the love of her life, Greg and together they have a three year old daughter Esther.  Her mother Ruth has moved into the family home to help Claire and to look after Esther.  This poses some conflict as Claire is a free spirit and won’t relinquish her independence easily.   As the disease progresses, the reader goes on the journey with Claire as she forgets the names of simple things.  We feel her awkwardness towards Greg as she forgets how much she loves him.  And we feel her terror when she goes out and forgets where she is.  Greg buys her a beautiful journal in which to write her memories and invites other members of the family to do the same.  In this way, we get to hear the backstory of the main characters.   It is a multi-viewpoint novel, but written in the first person so we get to know all the main character’s intimately.  Claire manages to keep her sense of humour throughout the story and this helps to lift the book from the depressing story it could be.  Ultimately it is a book about relationships.  It was an easy read, despite dealing with an emotive subject.    

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

I have been meaning to read this for ages.  This novel won the Costa Novel Award in 2013.  A story based on ‘what if?’ scenarios.  Ursula Todd is born in February 1910 during a severe snowstorm.   In the first scenario the doctor is delayed by the snow and the baby, Ursula, dies.  In the second version, the baby lives, only to die again and again at different times of her life.   It seemed to me like a succession of short stories about the same life/character with different outcomes.  Because of the book’s unusual structure I thought it would be a dissatisfying read, but all the characters are vividly drawn and the fact that a small event in Ursula’s life can be seen in more detail as we progress through her different lives made it a compelling read.   I was interested to read the author’s notes at the end where she said the idea for the story came from asking herself what would have happened if Hitler had been kidnapped as a baby and, having explored possibilities, her belief that this seemed more of a short story than a novel.   It was a reminder of the horrors of war and how brave people were.   It was one of those books that stayed with me long after I finished reading it.  This is the first book I have read by Kate Atkinson and it won’t be my last.

The Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones

The story is set in Edwardian England and focuses on the crumbling mansion of Stern and its inhabitants. The house was owned by Horace Torrington, but since his death his widow, Charlotte and their children, Clovis, Emerald and Imogen occupy the house. Charlotte has re-married Edward Swift whom Emerald and Clovis detest. As the story opens, Edward Swift is leaving for Manchester in the hope of securing a loan to save the family estate. After his departure, the family try to forget their financial problems and busy themselves with getting the house ready for their guests. It is Emerald’s twentieth birthday and they are planning a small party to celebrate. Emerald has invited her best friend, Patience who arrives accompanied by her brother Ernest. Charlotte, a woman of charms, would like to see an alliance between Emerald and John Buchanan, a local wealthy farmer so invites him along to the celebrations. As the party gets underway, the undertone of emotional tension increases. Before the group can sit down to the birthday feast they are interrupted by a mysterious group of strangers who turn out to be victims of a local train accident. Among them is the enigmatic Charlie Traversham-Beechers - another stranger, but not to Charlotte. In fact, he knows the secret of Charlotte’s past. I enjoyed the first half of the book, but I felt that there were too many voices trying to be heard and I would have preferred staying with one narrator. I liked the language and thought it reflected the Edwardian period. I was a little disappointed by the ending.

The Lie by Helen Dunmore

The Lie is set in Cornwall and is told from the point of view of Daniel Branwell, a young man who has just returned from the Great War. Physically Daniel seems fine, but he is emotionally damaged from the horrors of war and, in particular, he feels guilty at not being able to save his childhood friend and comrade, Frederick. Daniel has come back to his hometown as this reminds him of growing up with Frederick and his sister Felicia. However, he is reluctant to meet people from his past. He helps Mary Pascoe, an elderly semi-recluse, on her small holding, in return for food and shelter. When Mary dies, Daniel takes over her cottage. He wants to hide himself away, but it also keen to reconnect with Frederick’s sister, Felicia. Felicia is a war widow and single mother. As their friendship resumes, they talk about their memories of Frederick and, in doing so, Daniel begins to come to terms with the past. I felt I knew Daniel from the opening pages. I liked the way the sentences mimicked his tortured soul and erratic mind as he tries to make sense of everyday life after the horrors of war. The story stayed with me long after I had finished reading it.

The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2012, The Garden of Evening Mists is set in Malaysia and takes place during three different time periods – the late 1980s, the early 1950s and World War II.  The narrator is Yun Ling Teoh, a newly retired Supreme Court Judge.  The story starts in the 1980s with her return to Yugiri, in the Cameron Highlands.  In Yugiri, Yun Ling decides to write her life story before she dies.  As she looks back we learn that she was the lone survivor of a brutal Japanese prisoner of war camp.  That, as a young woman in the 1950s, staying with friends in the Cameron Highlands, she visited Yugiri, the only Japanese garden in Malaya, to ask the owner, Aritomo, to design a garden in memory of her sister who died in the camp.  Aritomo is an exiled former gardener of the emperor of Japan. Aritomo refuses and instead offers her an apprenticeship.  Despite her hatred for the Japanese, she accepts.   As the months pass, Yun Ling grows to love the art of gardening and finds herself intimately drawn to Aritomo.  The mystery as to how Yun Ling survived the camp, when everyone else died, intensifies as the story unfolds.  I got a real sense of place from the evocative descriptions.  It was interesting to read about this period of Malayan history and how it shaped its political future.  I liked the contrast of the calmness of the garden and the violent political landscape. I found the ending a little unsatisfactory.   

The Proof of Love by Catherine Hall

The story is set in the Lake District during the heat-wave of 1976.  Spencer Little, a Cambridge mathematician, keen to escape the confines of university life and an indiscretion, decides to cycle to the Lake District where no one knows him.  He arrives exhausted and calls on the first farm he passes.  The owners, brothers Hartley and Thomas Dodds are in need of a labourer and take him on in exchange for his board and lodgings.    Spencer needs to work on his thesis over the summer so he plans to help out on the farm in the day and study in the evenings.  The remoteness of the farm is perfect.  Spencer is a shy, private person and has always felt awkward in social situations.  He wins the trust of Alice, Hartley's ten year old daughter and they form an unlikely friendship.  Slowly as summer unfolds and Spencer becomes more entwined with the farming community he feels a sense of belonging, but the mystery of his past still hangs over him.  As the heat-wave comes to an abrupt end, tragedy strikes at the farm and with it comes the realisation that Spencer will always be an outsider.  I enjoyed the rural farming references and the evocative descriptions of the landscape. 

The Light Between Oceans

The story starts in 1926 when a boat is washed up on the shore of Janus, a small island off the coast of Western Australia.  Tom Sherbourne is the lighthouse keeper on the island.  He and his wife, Isabel, are the island’s only occupants.  The boat holds a dead man and a crying baby.   Isabel has just lost her third baby.  Her motherly instincts kick in as she nurses the baby.  She persuades Tom to delay telling the authorities reasoning that the mother must have drowned and the baby will end up in an orphanage.

The story then goes back eight years with Tom home from the war, trying desperately to forget what he witnessed on the battlefields of France.  He seeks peace and tranquillity and is looking forward to his posting on Janus.  Before taking up his post he spends some time in Partageuse, the town on the mainland from which the boat to Janus sails.  Here he meets a local girl, Isabel and they fall in love, get married and move to Janus.     

We are then back in 1926 with the baby, whom Isabel has named Lucy.  With mixed feelings, Tom heeds his wife's advice and doesn't report the boat or the baby to the authorities.  As Lucy casts her spell on him he tries to forget how they found her.  Two years later they go back to the mainland to get Lucy christened and, while there they learn the truth about Lucy.  Tom is wracked with guilt as he decides what to do. 

It is told from multiple viewpoints and I would have preferred it if it had just been told from Tom and Isabel’s point of view.  I enjoyed the story.    

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton

This has been on my ‘to read’ list for ages so I was looking forward to reading it after hearing so much about it.  The setting for the novel is 17^th century Amsterdam, which I found interesting.  The story is told from the point of view of Nella, a young woman from the countryside and newly married to Johannes Brandt, a successful merchant.  It is a marriage of convenience.  On arriving at her new home Nella is apprehensive about married life and how to run such an important household.  Her unease is increased when she meets Marin, Johannes remote and severe sister.  Marin used to be mistress of the household, but offers little guidance to Nella.  Each night Nella waits for her husband’s arrival in the matrimonial bed, but he never appears.  It is clear from fairly early on that Nella is living in a house of secrets.  As a late wedding present Johannes buys her a miniature replica of their home.  At first Nella views his choice of gift as childish, but then she orders some miniature pieces to go in the house and becomes obsessed with her new hobby.  She is impressed by the craftsmanship of the pieces and becomes fascinated when she learns they are made by a woman.  But when pieces start arriving that Nella hasn't ordered and that seem to forecast the future she becomes frightened.  I liked the way that Nella’s character developed.  I found the Miniaturist the least interesting part and felt that this sub-plot could have been removed without affecting the rest of the story.  There are some beautiful descriptions and I enjoyed Jessie's writing style. 

The Lie by C L Taylor

A psychological thriller based on toxic friendship.  The story alternates between the present day and five years ago, but the timeline switching is easy to follow.  It is told from Jane’s point of view as she tries to erase her past and, in particular a life changing event that happened five years ago when she and a group of friends went on holiday to a commune in Nepal.  Their holiday of a lifetime quickly turned into a nightmare.  Since then, Jane has assumed a new identity and made a new life for herself in rural Wales working at an animal sanctuary.  She has recently embarked on a new relationship and life is looking good until she receives a letter with one sentence saying “I know your name’s not really Jane Hughes,” and it looks as if her past is about to catch up with her.   I was hooked from the first page.  The ending I found a bit predictable and the plot a little unbelievable at times.   C L Taylor has a real gift for creating unreliable characters.  An entertaining, easy to read page turner.   

The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell

The Hand That First Held Mine was the winner of the 2010 Costa Novel Award.  The story alternates between 1950s and the present day.  In the 1950s we follow Lexie Sinclair, a young woman fresh out of university and in disgrace.  She finds life in rural Dorset with her parents and siblings claustrophobic and she craves excitement.  Then, a chance meeting with the enigmatic Innes Kent changes everything.  She heads to London where she embarks on a love affair with Innes.  I loved the descriptions of life in 1950s Soho and the colourful characters.  In the present day we follow Ted and Elina, who have just become parents for the first time.  Elina nearly died in childbirth and Ted is haunted by this traumatic experience.  In contrast to the excitement of Lexie’s London life, Ted and Elina's life is sheer drudgery as they adjust to the demands of parent-hood.  At first it is Elina who is struggling, but just as she starts to cope Ted starts to disintegrate.   For most of the story it is unclear how Lexie is linked to Ted and Elina and this made me read on to find out what the connection was - I wasn’t disappointed.  I thoroughly enjoyed this, but I have always been a fan of Maggie O’Farrell.

Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey

This book was the winner of the 2014 Costa First Novel Award.  One of the descriptions on the inside cover of the book portrays it as a dark psychological thriller, but I would say it is a story about relationships and loss.  Maud Horsham is eighty-two and suffering from dementia.  She knows she forgets things, but one thing she is certain of is her friend Elizabeth is missing.  No matter who she tells, no one seems to believe her.  As she goes on her quest to find Elizabeth her present gets tangled up with her past.  As the book progresses she is living more and more in the past in a time just after the war when her older sister Sukey disappeared.  Maud’s daughter Helen tries her best to care for her mother and the reader feels Helen’s helplessness, sorrow and guilty irritation.   We see how frightened Maud gets when she forgets things or goes wandering and doesn’t recognise her surroundings.  We see her confusion, mixed with relief, when she finds notes she has written to herself to record the things she is trying to hold on to before the memory slips away.  The author describes all these things convincingly.   I feared it would be a depressing read and it was sad in parts, but also darkly comic.  A thought provoking read.

Her by Harriet Lane

I enjoy a psychological thriller and this looked promising judging by the reviews on the cover. The structure was interesting in that the same events are told from the point of view of two women, but the disadvantage to this is it can get repetitive. The story starts with what seems to be a chance meeting between two women, Nina and Emma. Only they have met before some twenty-odd years ago, but only Nina remembers this. Emma is struggling with parenthood; she has a toddler, Christopher and is expecting her second child. Nina is a successful artist with a teenage daughter. It is clear from the start that Nina befriends Emma for a reason. As the story unfolds it is apparent that she wants to get back at Emma for something that happened when they were teenagers. There is a strong sense of place from the author’s writing and each woman’s voice is distinct. The day to day lives and the emotions of both the women are portrayed in minute detail, but I found the style over descriptive and felt it slowed the pace down. I was eager to find out what it was Emma had done to Nina and what Nina was going to do about it.

Rokitansky By Alice Darwin

I was lucky to meet Alice at a writing workshop we were attending.  It is always nice to hear authors talk about their books.  She told me how she self-published Rokitansky and what it was about.  It sounded intriguing so I downloaded a copy onto my kindle.  Rokitansky Syndrome is a condition I knew nothing about until I read this book. 

The story opens with fifteen year-old Moira who is told that she’s got a medical condition, which the medical profession don’t know much about, but which means she will never be able to have a baby.  After their initial shock and grief her parents are embarrassed and Moira is expected to get on with her life and not mention her medical condition to anyone.  The next chapter is about Tori and Harry, a couple who are embarking on the journey of finding a surrogate mother.   Their journey will be long and emotionally challenging.  Then we see Mrs Brown.  A woman nearing the end of her life, but eager to look after the elderly residents of Godalming Lodge and to tackle the pile of paperwork that seems to always be with her.  It is clear that all isn’t as it appears to be with Mrs Brown.  The book continues with each chapter written in this order until its conclusion where all the strands are neatly pulled together.  I was a bit puzzled about how the three stories were linked, but then came the twist, which I wasn’t expecting.   Alice uses some beautiful and original language in her descriptions.  It is an emotional read, but hopeful too.

The Accident by C L Taylor

I always enjoy a psychological thriller and this was no exception.  Sue Jackson’s fifteen year old daughter, Charlotte, is in a coma.  She has been knocked down by a bus.  Everyone believes it was an accident, except Sue who has read an entry in her daughter’s diary that makes her think otherwise.  Sue’s husband Brian is increasingly worried about his wife’s paranoia and tries to convince Sue that what happened to Charlotte was an accident.  Sue grows increasingly suspicious of those around her, including Brian and Charlotte’s friends.  In trying to find out what really happened to Charlotte Sue is forced to confront the secrets of her own past and the abusive relationship she was involved in twenty years ago.  The chapters alternate between the present day and Sue’s past, which is written in diary form.  It was a gripping read and I can’t wait to read the author’s next novel due out in April.  

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

Based on a real event this is the story of Agnes Magnusdottir who, in 1829, in Northern Iceland, was tried and sentence to death for her part in the savage murder of her lover, Natan Ketilsson.  Once convicted, the authorities decide that until a date is set for her execution, Agnes will be placed under the care of District Officer Jon Jonsson and his family and she will live and work on their farm.   The descriptions of the harsh Icelandic environment were atmospheric and the portrayal of the austere hardship of agricultural life was well done.  It took me a while to get used to the style – the chapters switch between first person point of view and third person point of view, but in the end I thought this worked.  Agnes’ account was told in first person and as such I felt more attuned to her emotions and fears.  I would have liked to know more about the other characters in the story especially the priest Toti, whose task it is to bring Agnes closer to God.  I wish I had read the author’s notes first as the background to how she came to write the story and the research she undertook was interesting and made me understand the story more.

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

The book explores the theme of Asperger’s Syndrome in a light-hearted way.  Don Tilman is thirty-nine and a professor of genetics at a university in Melbourne. He is aware that his brain is wired differently from most people.  He struggles in social situations and has to plan every minute of his day to a strict timetable.  If, on occasion, he has to deviate from his timetable it causes him lots of stress.  He has heard that men live longer if they are married so he compiles the wife project, a scientific test to find his perfect partner.  Then in walks Rosie and his structured life is thrown into chaos.  Rosie enlists Don’s help to find her real father and together they embark on the father project.  The story is told from the point of view of Don and, seeing the world through his eyes, made for an interesting read.    

Two Women by Laurie Lee

A short read – I finished it in an evening.  The book is composed of photographs and prose demonstrating a man’s love for his wife and daughter.  The book opens with this evocative sentence, which sets the scene for a haunting narrative: “The photographs in this book are of the two women who have occupied most of my late adult life, enclosing it in a double embrace, like bookends.”   I always enjoy Laurie Lee’s poetic way with words and this was no exception.

An Officer And A Spy by Robert Harris

A tantalizing historical thriller set in France in 1895.  It is about the trial of Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish officer in the French army, wrongly accused of passing secrets to the Germans. Dreyfus is found guilty and sent to Devil's Island for life.  It is narrated by Colonel Georges Picquart as he takes up his position to run the intelligence unit that identified Dreyfus and his crimes.   I found it interesting as it is not a period of French history I was familiar with.  The first half of the book sets the scene as Picquart slowly gets to grips with life in the intelligence unit and the politics involved.  He discovers that secrets are still being passed to the Germans and then other information comes to light that forces him to believe Dreyfus is innocent.  Now he just needs to convince his superiors, but the honour of the French army is at stake and the ranks close in against him.   For me the first half dragged a bit, but once I got past the halfway point I could not put the book down.  The amount of research that the author must have done is staggering, but at no point did it feel like a history lesson as the story is interwoven with vivid characters whose hopes and fears are believable. 

Us by David Nicholls

I enjoyed One Day by the same author, so I was looking forward to reading Us, which was long listed for The Man Booker Prize.  After two decades of marriage Douglas and Connie Petersen are about to become empty nesters.  Douglas is looking forward to this new chapter in their lives, but then Connie announces she’s thinking of leaving him.  His son, Albie, feels like a stranger.  In one last attempt to save his marriage and keep his family intact Douglas plans a once in a lifetime family holiday touring the cultural delights of Europe.  Douglas is a biochemist, Connie, is an artist.  No one is sure what Albie wants to be, but Connie is keen to encourage him in his artistic endeavours.  In the beginning I wasn’t convinced by the characters.  I felt that Albie and Connie were both self-centred and I wanted to shake Douglas.  As the story unfolded and I learnt more about the couple’s history, the highs and lows of their relationship, I started to believe in the characters and I was hooked.  It was interesting seeing the story through the eyes of Douglas.  I found the book laugh out loud funny at times and at others touchingly sad.  I thought it was pitched perfectly.