The Birch are spending Christmas together for the first time in years and not only are they spending it together but it is 24/7 as the daughter Olivia who is a doctor has been in contact with the Haag virus and so they are all in quarantine for 7 days!

It is soon clear that they all have secrets and one of them is about to come knocking on the door! As they spend so much time together petty quarrels are soon going to start.....I can just imagine if my family were in such close proximity for a week!

A good story that I think most families can relate to when people who live separate lives are forced upon each other,.... without other revelations!

Seven Days of Us is the debut novel from journalist Francesca Hornak and it's a very compelling read. The Birch family are spending Christmas in their rambling country house in Norfolk. It's the first time the family have spent Christmas together for some time since elder daughter Olivia is a doctor and often working. Sounds idyllic doesn't it? Well, not really since the family cannot leave the house at all for seven days and can't have anyone visit them either. Olivia has just returned from Liberia where she has been working with patients with the deadly Haag virus and as a result the whole family are in quarantine.

Although most people look forward to Christmas and spending time with their family, we all know that it can also be a very stressful time. This is certainly the case for the Birch family. All the tensions which could normally be smoothed over cannot be avoided as they have no choice but to spend Christmas together. Parents Emma and Andrew used to be so close but don't seem to communicate so well anymore. Both have secrets they don't want to reveal, or at least not at Christmas. But one of those secrets is going to make its presence felt very soon and turn the family dynamics upside down. Olivia and her sister Phoebe are very different and always have been. Both sisters have relationship worries this year but for very different reasons. Olivia's relationship is one that shouldn't really have happened and Phoebe, though very recently engaged, does not feel as ecstatic as she feels she should. Old resentments surface quickly as the sisters almost revert to childhood behaviours.

I really enjoyed the structure of this book. Set across the seven days of quarantine, as each day goes on the reader hears about what is happening from each of the main characters' points of view in turn. This helped me to really get to know the characters and understand them better. All of them seemed fully rounded and although all had traits which were irritating, they all had redeeming qualities too. The author has brilliantly created a sense of tension and claustrophobia throughout as the family rub each other up the wrong way and as they try - and mostly fail - to keep their secrets. It's also quite funny in places  and I'm sure that many people will recognise themselves or members of their own family amongst the characters.

Seven Days of Us is a book which could be enjoyed at any time of year, not just Christmas. Christmas isn't the main focus of the book, the family forced to be together and coping with all the secrets tumbling out is the focal point. It's not your typical cosy Christmas read full of tinsel and snow and neat happy endings but it's certainly an enjoyable and warm hearted read.

A very enjoyable read, each character well written. -a family imprisoned by quarantine rules , all with secrets of one type or another which gradually unfold and mould them together.

The Birch family are spending their first Christmas in years together. In fact they'll be more together than ever as to enjoy Christmas with the eldest daughter Olivia they'll be in quarantine for 7 days until she has the all clear from a deadly disease she has been helping to fight overseas. They should be cut off from the outside world but it has a funny way of invading their lives. Younger daughter Phoebe moons over her upcoming wedding while her fiancée George is not all he seems, their father Andrew hopes their quarantine shields him from facing his past while mother Emma faces an uncertain future....

This is a story about pretty much every family you know. It's the old cliche of been able to pick your friends but not your family. But the question is even if we could pick who's to say we'd pick better? The Birches seem as different as night and day and are a very gentile version of a dysfunctional family. But they are family who ultimately have each others back - but it may take seven days been locked up together to remind them of that!

I loved this book. I laughed, I cried (proper snotty sobs) and just relished every word. It's not my usual type of book (not my usual quotient of murders) but it was a welcome and very enjoyable change.

In a classic Lisa move, I chose to read Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornak because I liked the pretty cover. If you look at the cover and think that it may be the best thing about the book then you will be wrong. Very wrong.

Seven Days of Us is a story that focuses on the family dynamic. In particular, the dynamic when put in a compromising situation. In this case, a seven day quarantine over Christmas. Told from multiple perspectives we see just how difficult familial relationships are.

Olivia is struggling with normal life after working as an aid worker in Africa. She can’t adjust to regular life and how her family are just not affected by world issues like she is. Her sister Phoebe whose life centres around the nicer things in life who thinks that Olivia needs to accept that not everyone is as socially conscious as she wants them to be. Andrew, the father, who doesn’t have the best relationship with Olivia or his wife Emma; he is struggling with a 30 year old secret that is about to be revealed to his family and shake its very foundations. And Emma who is just trying to hold her family together and who is harbouring a life changing secret herself.

Seven Days of Us is so much more than your average novel set at Christmas. It is heartbreaking, all consuming and all too easy to relate to. Families are difficult to manoeuvre and Francesca Hornak has displayed this so well. You feel like you are a secret extra member of the family who is privy to all the pitfalls of family life and the confident to all the characters.

It was a wonderful read and has personally made me excited for future books from Francesca Hornak.

Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornak is available now.

For more information regarding Francesca Hornak (@FrancescaHornak) please visit her Twitter page.

For more information regarding Little, Brown Book Group UK (@LittleBrownUK) please visit www.littlebrown.co.uk.

For more information regarding Piatkus (@PiatkusBooks) please visit www.piatkusbooks.net.

Seven days with the Birch family, quarantined over Christmas, with their secrets, their hopes and their memories or other times and people. Cue the arrival of a stranger....
A good read, although some of the characters are unsympathetic, and a fairly well woven plot. Would be enjoyable to read in the run-up to the festive season.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. This is an engaging festive read featuring the Birch family, forced to spend 7 days together for the first time in years over Christmas and New Year, know that feeling

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in return for an honest review.

After their daughter, Olivia returns from working in a pandemic area in Liberia, the Birch family retreat to the family pile in Norfolk to quarantine over Christmas.

This is a week with a family who don’t seem to communicate with each other and whose idea of spending Christmas, in a mansion, with each other, is their idea of hell. Well apart from their mum Emma who just wants to make the best of everything, and enjoy their family time together.

This novel is a debut novel from Francesa Hornak, and it’s a fantastic debut. Hornak catches what it’s like to be in a modern-day family, where we spend more time on social media rather than talking to each other.

Each family member is flawed, but just in a typical family way. They are all so self-absorbed that they can’t see what is going on around them. Emma has recently been diagnosed with cancer, yet she can’t tell her family for fear of ruining Christmas. Andrew has recently been contacted by his son he knew nothing about, but he ignores the emails hoping he will go away. Youngest daughter Phoebe is so obsessed with planning her marriage she doesn’t notice or care) that her fiancé does not have the same interest. And then long lost son Jesse literally falls through the door.

I loved this. The novel even refers to EastEnders and Downtown Abbey, which made me giggle. This is a character novel in which they develop and learn something about themselves. Its quirky, and I just totally ‘get it’, as Jesse keeps saying in his LA twang.

This is not your usual Christmas read; you laugh and cry, and hold your breath with them; and for me I particularly wondered what happened to Jesse afterwards. A brilliant Christmas drama in the genre of the Downtown Abbey and EastEnders Christmas episode.

Five Stars and looking forward to reading Francesca Hornak’s next novel.

Seven days of us is a debut novel for Francesca Hornak and what a great start this is.
The story evolves around the Birch family, thrown together over the festive period due to having to spend 7 days in quarantine due to eldest daughter Olivia having been in Liberia for several months treating the Haag virus and as she has nowhere else to go Emma (mum) decides it would be great to spend Christmas altogether for a change.
The family consists of eldest daughter, Olivia and youngest daughter, phoebe, mum, Emma and Dad, Andrew.
All have their secrets and these become apparent as the story enfolds. Andrew used to be a war journalist but is now just a very harsh food critic with a big secret that comes knocking at the door that they can't open due to the quarantine. Emma has a secret that she is going to disclose after the festive week but as with families this doesn't go to plan. Olivia doesn't really come home that much and has nothing really to say to her dad or sister but is hiding the fact that good girl Olivia has flounced the no contact rule whilst treating the Haag virus with a work colleague and Pheobe has just become engaged to George and should be feeling top of the world but for some reason isn't.
This was a different read that I enjoyed, I loved how it was a relaxed style and there was a lot going on and that each one had secrets and how they eventually came to light and how they had effects on the whole family.
I would like to thank netgalley and Little Brown book group UK for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

REVIEW
After discovering a few general/contemporary genre reads I have enjoyed I felt like reading another, but with perhaps a Christmas feel to it too. This one fitted that bracket well.

This book has various covers, in fact I have featured three of them below in a cover compare feature. The cover shown above is my favourite of the covers I have seen. It has a very Downton Abbey-esque house featured on the cover which when reading the book we discover is Weyfield where the Birch family have planned on spending their Christmas in quarantine. The cover has a subtle festive feel to it with the smoke coming from the chimneys at Weyfield and the snow falling. The red ribbon weaving around on the cover with the book title within is very appealing, perhaps representing the ribbon on a Christmas gift also adds to the festive feeling of the cover. I think this cover as been done very well meaning the book cover appeals regardless of the time of year.
I love the byline of "A week is a long time to spend with your family. . . ." as you read the book it becomes more and more apparent that though all the characters at Weyfield are family that they seem to not know one another very well. all the characters have communication issues with each other.

The genre I have found listed for Seven Days Of Us are General Fiction, Contemporary and Christmas/Holiday. I agree with all the genres and would like to add there is a little dash of Romance within the the book too. Though Christmas is featured in the book I would go so far as to say it is a book that could/should only be read at Christmas. There is a strong feeling of family and individual relationships inside the family dynamic. The book has a lot of different emotive issues featured within it. I would say that it contains a snippet of comedy too.

I felt immediately pulled to this book by its cover and blurb. I don't know what the initial thing was that attracted me to the book but I just really fancied reading it. From the very start of the book I felt pulled into it. It certainly captured my interest and held on tight to it. I really looked forward to curling up in bed with this book to read each evening.

I'll tell you a little about the basics of the book, Olivia is the eldest daughter of Emma and Andrew Birch doesn't often come home for Christmas. However Olivia has been away volunteering abroad treating the Haag virus. There she has met a gorgeous man and they have been secretly starting a romantic relationship even though it is against the rules, as Haag can be spread so easily with body fluids. So when Olivia returns she will have to be quarantined a full seven Days, and her parents have agreed to be under quarantine thinking its a small price to pay for some quality time with their eldest daughter. The younger sister of the family Phoebe is not so happy about the quarantine and the fact she won't see her boyfriend for a whole week.

The Birch family decide to have their quarantine at Weyfield, which is Emma's original home that has been passed down through the generations along with its customs. This family Christmas is especially significant for Emma as she has just learnt she is very ill but more tests and treatment cannot start until after Christmas. Emma decides not to tell her family as her illness means she is more susceptible to contracting illnesses. Emma knows if she reveals this fact that her thoughtful, older daughter Olivia will spend her quarantine elsewhere. Emma wants a family Christmas, knowing it may very well be her last. So Emma rushes round purchasing gifts for her girls who so rarely even speak to each other now. Emma reflects on how her daughters are polar opposites, though she hopes being together during the quarantine may bring the whole family closer to each other.
The other characters are introduced Andrew the father who has his own secret that is threatening to come right up and literally fall through his door.
There's Phoebe who is so materialistic and just wants to be married so much she doesn't really stop to wonder if she is with the right guy for her.
As well as the family we have the characters of Jesse and George. George is the "new money" that wants to marry into "old money" and the prestige it would bring, but then it is revealed he isn't overly sure what or who he wants along with who he really is himself either.
Jesse is a totally different guy who knows what and who he wants from his trip over to the UK. He has left his adoptive family behind this Christmas in the hopes he can search and find his last living birth parent.

The book is very well written and you become quite engrossed in the characters, their individual secrets, as well as their hopes and dreams for the perfect Christmas and beyond. ?It certainly soon becomes apparent that the quarantine is going to be the least of this families issues over Christmas!! Secrets & surprises, some possibly good some already sadly bad. This book builds the suspense slowly but surely in more than one plot line keeping the book a very captivating, interesting read. I like the books format of being diary/blog 'esque.' from Andrew Birch's reviews of restaurants, to Olivia's blog about her time treating the Haag virus. Then there are the secret phone calls Emma makes when she can get telephone reception, ringing her friend for support and to talk about her own secret. This book really is a tangle of twists of fate, and of strange coincidence.

Part of the way through the book Phoebe finds out about her mums secret when sneaking a look at wedding venues on her computer. Phoebe is a rather selfish, materialistic character at the very beginning of the book. What ever drama occurs her first response is how this will affect her. In fact Phoebe actually promises not to say a wrod about her mums secret until after the quarantine yet blurts it out in an angry exchange with her older sister Olivia. Olivia also mysteriously begins to feel ill. She has already had the awful news her colleague is in isolation in hospital with the Haag virus. Though he had taken many more risks than her Olivia is still worried she may be coming down with the virus herself. Poor Jesse ends up stumbling into all this drama himself quite by accident really. It's a stroke of luck for the family as when Olivia collapses and the Birch clan basically freeze and don't know what to do, Jesse takes charge of the situation.

My favourite characters were Emma, how strong she tries to stay, keeping such large news to herself so as not to spoil Christmas for everyone else. I love how she attempts to still do the Christmas traditions despite the other family members being openly reluctant to do so. I also really loved Jesse, who on the spur of the moment books a flight to the UK. Having stalked his remaining live birth parent online and learning what area they live in he heads there alone. Explaining to his adoptive family he feels he has to go to the UK to record some footage for a project he is doing. Jesse tries to contact this birth parent via email on numerous occasions. Other favourite characters were Olivia and Sean, but I think that was more to do with their illicit relationship and the fact the fact they cannot contact each other due to keeping their relationship quiet for a while so as not to get into trouble with their volunteer administration. As well as the fact Weyfield seems to be in a black spot for communications.

I really don't want to say much more about the book as you need to uncover the characters secrets as they are slowly revealed in the book for yourselves. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book all the way through it. This book is actually a debut novel for author Francesca Hornak, and I have to say its a great start. I loved the style of it centred around different family relationships and the different forms of communication used for example Olivia's blogs and her emails to Sean that at first she knows he is not well enough to answer. Olivia seems to use these emails as therapy, a way to cope with not being able to just pick up a phone and speak to him. I liked the little intricacies of the different family relationships, so you have Olivia and Phoebe, like chalk and cheese. Olivia doing good in the world and so caring about others willing to sacrifice materialistic things to help them. Then there's Phoebe who is only interested in planning her wedding. Even when she discovers her mothers secret her first thoughts are for herself, her wedding venue and even wondering how her mums secret will affect her wedding photographs!

My immediate thoughts upon finishing this book were that it was very different to my usual fantasy/paranormal genre reads.This is a more contemporary genre based on the Birch family. I have to say that I loved it and had a tear or three in my eyes as I finished reading the book. You ride along with the emotional highs and lows for each of the characters featured in the book.

How would you feel and react if one of your worst nightmares is to be locked in a crumbling mansion house with your family for seven days over the Christmas holidays?

For the Birch family that nightmare is about to become a reality, when Olivia, a doctor, returns from treating patients with the virulent Haag virus and must spend seven days quarantined with her family. The fact that it is Christmas, combined with a mother who has a secret cancer diagnosis, a sister who loves the luxuries in life, a belligerent journalist Father, and a long lost son, you just know that the seven days are not going to be without drama.

Having heard some great reviews I was looking forward to diving in.

Hornak cleverly uses each character to tell the story from their perspective and we get a real insight into how they view themselves and each other.

Olivia, wants to save the world and cannot bear her sisters superficial outlook on life, and her families lack of understanding of why she works in such dangerous places. I found her to be quite self righteous and irritating to begin with. It wasn’t until Olivia realised her love for fellow doctor Sean, close to death in hospital, a victim of the Haag virus, that her edges began to soften and you actually began to like her.

Phoebe, loves the better things in live, still living at home and extremely close to her father. Engaged to fiance George, who doesn’t quite give her butterflies, but fulfills her need to conform and give her the life she desires. As with Olivia I found her highly irritating but she slowly grew on me as her character found some depth and a grasp on reality.

Mother, Emma, harbours her secret cancer diagnosis in an unselfish attempt to provide her family with a cosy christmas, full of food and good wine without success. The unsung hero of the novel, whom I did feel a slight empathy, always there, likeable and utterly put upon by her entire family.

Andrew, the father, is a retired war journalist, now a restaurant critic with an acid pen, hiding in the smoking room, hiding from his family and their problems. I wanted to shake him at times, with his typical old school attitude, not sure how to handle the women in his life and any awkward situation.

Add into the mix Jesse, the long lost son of Andrew and the hapless fiancee George and Hornak has created a veritable array of characters. I have to say I did find the and some of the situaions a little stereotypical but I think that only added to the enjoyment of the novel, creating an abundance of drama and funny situations as they all reverted to character.

The drama didn’t stop from start to finish. At times funny, at times serious, each character slowly revealed their secrets and the family dynamics slowly began to change. Yes it was predictable, but utterly compelling, and a real lesson in how our behaviour is somehow magnified when in forced confinement.

This novel is just made for TV and it is no surprise that the TV rights have already been snapped up.

A real holiday read perfect if you fancy escaping over the christmas holidays!!

This is a great read. The Birch family - parents Andrew and Emma, daughters Olivia and Phoebe - are forced to spend a week over Christmas in quarantine at their family home in the countryside when Olivia returns from working with Haag-infected patients in Liberia. It seems a recipe for disaster; each family member is keeping secrets from the others. A dysfunctional family who have drawn apart from each other over the years, exposure of their secrets threatens to ruin their relationships altogether. This is a cracking family drama laced with tragedy and a hefty dollop of humour.

This was a stunning book, I loved it from beginning to end. The characters were so real and the storyline, while not appearing to move forward very quickly, was steady and a perfect pace for life changing events that entered the Birch family's quarantine period. Towards the end I did suddenly shout out loud "Oh my God" at a particular momentus piece of news, perfectly placed. It was like living in Wefield with the family throughout their dramatic week and then New Year in London, I didn't want it to end. Fabulous read.

I found this novel to be well-written with interesting, believable characters, cooped up together over Christmas after one of them has been working as a doctor in Liberia, treating people who have been suffering from a serious, often deadly illness, Haag. I enjoyed swapping from one character to the next and thought the structure was very well-handled. Each character had his or her own agenda. Sometimes they seemed quite single-minded but always believable and sympathetic. I enjoyed this book because it was clever and different, and I never knew what was going to happen next. Definitely a great book to give to friends for Christmas, especially those who might not be looking forward to being cloistered for too long with irritating relatives!

Olivia is a medic and has been working in Liberia against the Haag virus- a deadly virus that is contagious. She has been allowed to come home for Christmas however there are strict rules in place- one of which is that the whole family must stay “in quarantine” for 7 days. This they plan to do at the family home and not mix with others. Emma, her mother doesn’t want to spoil this precious time and keeps her own cards close until they are accidently spilled. Sister Phoebe is engaged but her fiance George isn’t as enthusiastic as she would like and she thinks it is about having the wedding at home where she has always dreamed of it being. Andrew, the father had a letter a year ago that he thought would go away if he took no notice of it, until he started getting a couple of emails. Families and secrets, whispers and lies. This is one of those books that before you realise it has enveloped you and you can’t stop turning the pages. Characters that you warm to (or want to shake at times!). A very different plot, a very well written tale.I voluntarily chose to read this ARC and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased.

This is a very different read for me but one that I really liked the sound of and I was not disappointed. I do like to branch out and switch my genres but I don't really read much in the way of fiction based family dramas ,I don't find many books that reach out and grab me, but this one did.I was intrigued by the idea of a disparate family coming together and being forced to spend 7 days in quarantine ,I think that might well challenge even the closest families, and this bunch all had their own secrets and did not appear to be overly close , so I thought it sounded like it could be fun, and it was.You are going to have to read it for yourself I'm not giving the plot away, but will say that it is well worth a read, and I enjoyed it.It wasn't over soppy I am glad to say I don't really like things to be too neat and tidy and I'm not saying any more, apart from to thank the publishers and netgalley for an ARC in return for an honest review.

A family, quarantined for 7 days together, must learn the truth about themselves and each other as everyone has secrets.

Olivia Birch has returned home for Christmas after working in Liberia during the Haag Flu outbreak. Her boyfriend is in the hospital with the condition, her younger sister has just got engaged and her father has just found out he has an illegitimate son, who has come from America to meet his birth family. To top it all the entire family must stay in quarantine for 7 days in a big old draughty house in which no-one feels comfortable.

This book was a bit different, not your usual family drama. It is sad, thoughtful and brings to the fore the struggles of a family who don’t talk and who rub along together too frightened to discuss the important things until it’s almost too late.

This is a debut novel for Ms Hornak and I think it is a damn good first book. If she keeps up this level of work I can see her becoming a household name.

The characters are both likeable and annoying and the story has twists you don’t see coming, but also has sad moments.

I think most of us can relate to the struggles of the Birch family as we are all responsible for taking people, especially our families, for granted until we nearly lose them.

Shesat

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

In this cracker of a book, Ms Hornak describes a family.. quarantined...at Christmas.. In the middle of almost nowhere (read:Norfolk)... sounds like a nightmare.. but is in fact a dream setting for a brilliant book! (and a movie!)
I loved that the author attempted a kind of 'breaking the fourth wall' scenario where we the readers already know the secrets of the characters, but the way it all unravels makes for a marvellous read.
I adored Jesse.. he was the best character for me... Phoebe, Andrew and Emma grew on me... Olivia not so much but I guess being at the core of such distress might do that to her character sketch.
The twists were sort of predictable except ONE... it was literally heart-wrenching.
My special mention to the COVER stands! It's Beeaauutiful!
Curl up in a cozy corner with this book! Well-done Ms Hornak!

**Thank you Netgalley and the Publishers for my ARC!**

Olivia Birch, a doctor, comes home for Christmas after many years of avoiding spending this time of year with her family. She has to be quarantined for seven days after contracting the Haag virus out in Liberia where she has been working, caring for patients with this disease.
Her younger sister Phoebe has had a very different life in recent years and is engaged to be married to a rather pompous shallow man. Phoebe is obsessively starting to plan her wedding, and is rather selfishly irritated by Olivia’s presence and the fact that they all have to undergo quarantine as well.
The girls’ parents are also present and so this family has to spend lots of time together, a situation that they are not used to.
Over the seven days various secrets and irritations come to light. Unfortunately tragedy strikes, and this, along with two unexpected visitors, causes the family to face some harsh realities.
It is an interesting novel, and take, on the family spending time at Christmas together scenario portrayed in any number of books and films over the last few years. I enjoyed the book and will be happy to read more from this author.
Thanks to Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

An interesting insight into the relationships between family members once the innocence of childhood has been outgrown, I wasn't sure whether this would be a book I would enjoy. I am very pleased to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it right from the start.
The Birch family are outwardly very successful, with mum Emma inheriting a large family home in Norfolk from her parents, dad Andrew is a restaurant critic who writes for a high profile publication, elder daughter Olivia is a doctor fighting a humanitarian cause in Liberia and youngest child Phoebe newly engaged to well-to-do George. With Olivia needing to be kept in quarantine on her return from Liberia to ensure any health risk is contained the family have decided to lock themselves away together in Norfolk over Christmas. A potential pressure cooker situation for any family, let alone one with skeletons ready to come knocking on closet doors (pardon the pun!) from all angles. Health issues, a newly discovered ghost from the past and with there being no opportunity to get away from each other the tensions build steadily as the days wear on. I loved the way George and his posh friends were described, and really felt for mum Emma as she tried to put her family's needs before her own when she really needed their support. I didn't warm to dad Andrew at first, finding him rather self-centred and condescending but found that once his past came back to haunt him and he was forced to confront the issues he had been trying to ignore he became far more approachable and likeable. Youngest child Pheobe I found to be typical of the baby of most families, indulged by both parents to the point of being rather spoiled. The character I empathised most with was Olivia. Always having felt like she had to work twice as hard to be noticed by her parents in order to feel worthy she is fiercely independent and has a streak of her father's apparent selfishness running through her. It's not until the façade comes tumbling down that we realise just how alike she and her father actually are.
With a great cast of diverse characters I feel that the author has managed to portray how as adults we are all individuals within a family but at the end of the day blood is thicker than water and it is that same family we ultimately rely on in times of trouble. I really enjoyed this completely different Christmas novel.