Mum and Dad

In my opinion..

In a time of uncertainty, it’s nice to have some consistency.

Opening the latest Joanna Trollope felt comfortable, like tucking your feet under you in the corner of the sofa, with a strong cup of freshly ground coffee & getting ready for a natter with a good friend.

As ever the subject matter is family relationships – this time, parents & their relationships with adult children, brought into focus by the father’s stroke.

The author’s characters are well drawn, credible and flawed, if not particularly likeable. The novel is well written, of course, - and will strike a chord with many readers, as it’s just so realistic, covering subjects that we all have to deal with, as we become the grown-up children, whilst dealing with our own family issues.

It’s not necessarily unputdownable, but it is like having a sneaky peek at neighbours’ lives then having a conversation with your friend (see above!) and analysing whether their decisions are right or wrong.

Want to know more?

Their parents made a choice years ago. Now they're counting on the children to step in. After so much time, can old wounds heal? Mum & Dad by bestselling author Joanna Trollope is a wise, brilliantly drawn examination of a modern family dilemma.

What a mess, she thought now. What a bloody, unholy mess the whole family has got itself into.

It's been twenty-five years since Gus and Monica left England to start a new life in Spain, building a vineyard and wine business from the ground up. But when Gus suffers a stroke and their idyllic Mediterranean life is thrown into upheaval, it's left to their three grown-up children in London to step in.

Sebastian is busy running his company with his wife, Anna, who's never quite seen eye-to-eye with her mother-in-law.

Katie, a successful London solicitor, is distracted by the problems with her long-term partner, Nic, and the secretive lives of their three daughters.

And Jake, ever the easy-going optimist, is determined to convince his new wife, Bella, that moving to Spain with their eighteen-month-old would be a good idea.

As the children descend on the vineyard, it becomes clear that each has their own idea of how best to handle their mum and dad, as well as the family business. But as long-simmering resentments rise to the surface and tensions reach breaking point, can the family ties prove strong enough to keep them together?

My rating?

A very comfortable 4 glasses of bubbles...

Thank you PanMacmillan & NetGalley for my ARC