This is this month’s reading group book. It was also featured on The TV Book Club. On the programme there is an interview with the author Clare Morrall. She says that she wanted to explore what would happen if a husband/father suddenly disappeared. In fact I think she covers the thoughts of the wife (Kate) left behind quite well. But it is very introspective and miserable and so it feels like hard work to read. I found the husband’s (Felix) story to be inconsistent and unbelievable at many stages, for example how could a man who was so determined to create a happy family just disappear without even letting them know he was alive?

The one thing I did enjoy was how well the younger children – Millie and Rory – are imagined. Their interactions with other youngsters took me back to my own childhood. I remember admiring older/prettier girls and at school the way Millie does. I remember trying to deal with bullying behaviour the way Rory does: thinking that I could get the perpetrator to be my friend by making them laugh.

Overall I didn’t like this book. The story isn’t convincing and the book drags on and on as there’s nothing of note happening during most of it. The ending is rather an anticlimax. I was relieved that it was over.

(28th in 2012)