I picked this book up because, frankly, I wanted the bragging rights. I'd enjoyed the Dog in the Nighttime, so I figured that this might be of the same caliber.

How wrong I was.

This was one of the most exhausting reads I've ever endured. In fact, the only book I've ever enjoyed as little as this was Stephen King's Insomnia. The family that took center stage in this unthrilling tale was dysfunctional enough to make it into the pages of a Jacqueline Wilson novel. I get that every family have their little quirks, but this book just took the piss. Every family member were going through their own personal major turmoils, and the idea that this was supposed to represent 'real family life' was laughable.

One of the most annoying things about this failed piece of literature was that in every single chapter, no matter how short, the character in question had some major, life altering epiphany. One big realization per book is about the limit of what looks realistic. If these revelations were about minor things, like 'of course, jam and butter on my toast is what I need now', that would have been fine. I certainly would have had something to say about it, but it's better than what did happen, which were sickening moments of clarity about the big questions in life; Death, Love, Life. You felt exhausted after reading ten pages of this!

This was such a god awful piece of writing that it's almost funny. Almost. As it stands, it's just one of those books who you wrap up as a Christmas present for your worst enemy, and then feel guilty, wondering if it was a bit too harsh.

This is a really good, absorbing drama about a family in crisis and in particular tells the story of George who, at the age of 57, suddenly faces the fact that he is not going to live forever upon the discovery of a lesion on his hip. Wife Jean is sleeping with an old work colleague of his. Daughter Katie is preparing her wedding to Ray, a man who is universally disliked by her family and to be honest, she is not sure whether she is marrying him for the right reasons. Finally, son Jamie is facing a dilemma – he wants to bring his partner Tony to the wedding, but he fears his family are not ready for that.

There is a thread of black humour running through the book but I did feel it was more moving and emotional than funny as George’s depression first crept up and then engulfed him. It all felt so real, as if it was happening to somebody I knew and these sections in particular were beautifully written. The whole family, in fact, felt frighteningly real to me, and I found myself nodding my head so many times throughout the book at things they said.

They are all in crisis in one way or another, and as each short and sharp chapter is told through alternate viewpoints, I really got a good understanding about what was going through everyone’s thoughts. They are all brutally honest with themselves but the sadness is that none of them speak to each other about the things that matter.

It was a book that really grabbed me and held my attention during the build up to the wedding but there were one or two things I wasn’t too sure about. George is 57 and I am in my early 50s so I could really understand his sudden fear when he realised that he is not immortal, but he didn’t “feel” like someone in his fifties. I never saw him, or Jean, as contemporaries as mine as they felt as if they were from a different generation. I did feel the ending was a little “too” upbeat, the cloud over George’s head just seemed to blow away a little too easily in relation to the pain he suffered throughout the book. I couldn’t help thinking “oh if only depression could be solved that easily in real life”. On the whole though, this is a good entertaining read that delivers some very real home truths with very realistic characters that I thoroughly enjoyed. Yes, there are those bits that I wasn’t sure about, but they were far outweighed by the good.

Not quite sure why I’m neutral about this one. It’s a pleasant, gentle read, it’s humorous and it’s often a very true depiction of the failures and omissions in the way we Brits communicate with our loved ones. I just felt it was, well, unmemorable.

One of the key themes is mental illness / acute depression and our patient - poor George - is a very likeable, sympathetic character struggling with very real problems. The thing is though that it all becomes a little too light and a little too funny. Depression can be a bleak experience and I didn’t see any of that here. We’re laughing at George but not really feeling for him.

The perfect book for a long train journey though. Beautifully observed humour and characters plus a nicely rounded ending. Nothing too stressful or strenuous.