This was a strange read but one that I am still thinking about sometime after finishing it. If I hadn’t been told otherwise I could have believed that this was autobiographical but apparently not: fiction, all fiction. Although of course one can hardly avoid putting something of oneself into any piece of writing.
A weird family with some peculiar traits, some eccentricities, occasional unconventional dressing and unorthodox behaviour patterns. That is our subject. Could it not apply to almost any family though? In my experience everyone has their particular singularities, some just keep them hidden whilst others flaunt them for all to witness.
This family consists of 2 parents and their 5 sons. At times they grate on each other but it was rather warming to note that actually they were always there when needed. They formed a support network even when work took them to far flung countries or when partners and children were added to the mix.
William, one of the sons, writes this story in the first person and a lot of the narrative concerns his rather irascible father. I felt some sympathy for this character. He is a little out of his time and is not changing or keeping up with the world around him.
Andrew Barrow, the author, is someone who I have read before, in his persona as a journalist. This is his first novel, which has won a prize for a first novel by somebody over 40. I rather like the fact that such an award exists. It sort of shows that it is never too late.