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A perceptive novel from our favourite chronicler of the dilemmas of modern family life.
Catherine and Caroline, Toby and Mark were globetrotting siblings: British ‘diplo-brats’, whose childhood homes lay in Italy or Israel, France or Washington DC – wherever their father was posted at the time. But all that was years ago. Now Catherine is approaching middle-age, married to a life of cheeseparing selflessness looking after young offenders on a chilly organic farm; Mark is a prim supermarket executive, Caroline a wealthy Kensington wife, and Toby – well, Toby is a problem. The joker in the pack. He always was. Amid growing tensions, marriage-fatigue and unspoken resentments, the apparent tragedy of Toby’s disappearance jolts his sisters and brother into making angry, anxious journeys: from California to Flanders, back in time and into their own hearts.
Catherine and Caroline, Toby and Mark were globetrotting siblings: British ‘diplo-brats’, whose childhood homes lay in Italy or Israel, France or Washington DC – wherever their father was posted at the time. But all that was years ago. Now Catherine is approaching middle-age, married to a life of cheeseparing selflessness looking after young offenders on a chilly organic farm; Mark is a prim supermarket executive, Caroline a wealthy Kensington wife, and Toby – well, Toby is a problem. The joker in the pack. He always was. Amid growing tensions, marriage-fatigue and unspoken resentments, the apparent tragedy of Toby’s disappearance jolts his sisters and brother into making angry, anxious journeys: from California to Flanders, back in time and into their own hearts.
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Reviews
A feel-good novel ... hilarious ... humorous ... fabulously incisive
Purves' novel of ordinary lives is compelling, her perceptions are acute ... sophisticated and skilful
Libby Purves' prose is clean, sharp and in touch with things that matter