A warm and hilarious book about family dynamics and the things we put up with for those we love. I loved that the family wasn't perfect but they still love each other.

This was a surprisingly fun read. I was worried at first, given what happens in the first chapter, but this turned out to be really heartwarming and sweet.

Simon Larsen had the perfect life: happy marriage, perfect children, a dream house, and a high-flying career. And then the pandemic hit. He lost his job, lost his house, and every day feels like he's slowly losing his wife and kids. But now he has taken on a major solo project, to prove to his wife and his mother-in-law and the whole wide world that he's still a capable man. He's landscaping a friend's backyard to get it ready for a big family event. He can't wait to get started, but it seems like everyone in his life is conspiring against him making progress on the project. His wife has a secret, his children aren't as perfect as he thought they were, suddenly his wife's half-sister is living in a corner of his living room, and his mother-in-law keeps sticking her nose where it doesn't belong! How will Simon ever get that backyard finished on time?

Well, this was a clever little book. On the surface level, it's a book about a hapless guy who needs his wife and her family to help him get his life together, but he keeps getting interrupted in his progress by the strangest occurrences. On a deeper level, it's about trying to figure out what's important in life and what your priorities ought to be. I had no idea where any storyline was going until the very end, where it all comes together perfectly. It's pretty clear that Simon is dealing with some sort of mental health issue, and a lot of his behaviour and how he interprets other people's behaviour makes a lot of sense when looked at through that lens.

I'm really not a big fan of books that mention the pandemic in some way. I see books as an escape and I don't need to be reminded of real life when I'm reading them, but I weirdly didn't mind it here. Kudos to Toni Jordan for writing a COVID book that's actually enjoyable, I guess!

I dnf'd this book into Chapter 4 as the writing was extremely confusing and I didn't understand what was happening or going on. I felt the overload of information made the book worse as that contributed to why it didn't make sense because it didn't mesh well.

I have loved Toni Jordan's previous novels, but Dinner with the Schnabels did not feel quite as tight as her previous works.

The basic premise is that Simon is an architect who has found himself made redundant over Covid. He lacks direction and can't even motivate himself to do a garden makeover for his old friend. He has little idea how to interact with his friends and family, feels vulnerable and got at.

And there are some amusing set piece scenes, and there is a fairly pat attempt to explain everything at the end, but for much of the read, this just feels that we are adrift, a bit like Simon.

I've just finished this book and my thoughts are a mess. Really not sure about this one. I mean, it was a brilliant, chaotic story, pure joy actually, but on the other hand, I'm not sure if the book itself knew what it wants to be about. It was difficult to read. I'm not sure why, the writing style was great and chatty, but also somehow heavy and also this book was very descriptive, it felt like one very long inner monologue and everything was about Simon, Simon, Simon... It focused on things, like the arrival of Monica, underlining it so heavily, and then I had a feeling Monica was forgotten, so why focus so hard on her at first? The memorial that was mentioned so often took place at the very end, over few pages... So really, some things worked, some didn't work at all and I enjoyed this book incredibly but it also annoyed me incredibly, it didn't know which story it wants to tell.

But it was also filled with joyous and uplifting and poignant moments and, like I said, the writing style was not bad. It was lovely to have an interesting leading male character and the story touching upon his mental health, in a gentle and relatable way. Told with empathy and understanding, full of chaotic domestic life with all its ups and downs following the pandemic and touching about consequences of the never - ending lockdowns, financial, mental, job- and familywise. All in all, I think it deserves those 4 stars.

A lovely, warming read. Simon, a previously successful architect is struggling following the global pandemic and the impact it had on his business. He feels guilty for not being able to give his family the life they want.
Filled with poignant moments and observations about modern life and all its struggles.

Toni Jordan writes a fun and entertaining contemporary Aussie family drama set in Melbourne, exploring the messy, chaotic life of Simon Larsen, interspersed with comic touches, uplifting joy and light. Loner Simon is married to Tansy, it was love at first sight, and is father to the delightful Mia and Lachie. He has been left reeling after losing his architectural business during the pandemic, their house had to be sold, and they are now living in cramped surroundings with Tansy having to go out to work at a real estate agency to keep them afloat. He has barely been able to rise from the couch as he has sunk into a miserable depressive haze, he has completely let himself go, burdened by a guilt that his family deserve much better than him.

Tansy has managed to secure a job for Simon to lift him out of his stupor, landscaping the backyard of a friend, the divorced Naveen Patel, he has a week to complete it, at the end of which Gloria is planning to host a memorial service for her estranged ex-husband, David. The larger than life in-laws, the Schnabels are intensely close, Tansy's mother, Gloria, and siblings Kylie and Nick, don't hold back when it comes to what they think, for Simon they are a lot to handle. As he attempts to get his life back on track, he finds his best intentions of completing the job being constantly derailed by one thing after another. For a start, his crowded home acquires an unexpected guest in the form of the unpredictable 26 year old Monica, Tansy's pansexual half sister, who is less than forthcoming when it comes to what she does to earn a living. Working all night, he makes a minion costume for Lachie, the pavers are delivered to the wrong address, the refrigerator needs fixing, he gets a job offer he has no intention of accepting and Mia's in trouble at school.

At least he can rely on Tansy, thinking he knows all that there is to know about her. How wrong could he be? Will Simon be able to complete the landscaping in time as his life appears to be unravelling beyond his control? This is a wonderful and charming Aussie read, of being a parent and all that entails, of marriage, of family, the challenges and stresses that life brings, of misapprehensions and secrets that will appeal to many readers. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

I chose this book after having seen an excellent review. I love family dramas!

I started reading this and then decided that it might come across better on audio given the humour and conversations.
Simon is having a difficult time - fair to say this might be a mid life crisis. He’s lost his business due to Covid, had to move to a smaller house and spends lots of time on the coach. His wife Tansy is the love of his life but his unhappiness is imposing a barrier between them and his children are having problems of their own. Tansy’s family, particularly her mother Gloria, are only too ready to offer Simon their own advice.

This is a sweet and funny, poignant family drama which on the whole I really enjoyed. In particular Gloria was very funny and her interfering ways masked a heart of gold. I loved the relationship between Simon and his family, particularly his young daughter who is in trouble at school. I think sometimes the humour and language didn’t always translate for me so the comedy was a bit hit and miss but on the whole this was an enjoyable read with an interesting male lead and a gentle discussion of mental health.

With thanks to Netgalley and Little Brown Group for my digital copy of this book.

A novel about marriage, love and family. This book is not only dramatic and engrossing, it is also insightful and wise. With lots of laughs Read it! Read it! You will never forget it!

A Big Heart..
Told with empathy, wit and warmth this oft bleak but oft humorous tale of one man’s world and his larger than life in-laws will put the reader through a gamut of emotions as they reel between laughter and pain. Credible and relatable in equal measure, this is a domestic drama with a great big heart.

Dinner with the Schnables was interesting. It’s not usual you get the mans take on a marriage whom is depressed and entered a big family. Loved the humour, a perfect summer read.

A quick and easy read that I found myself picking up after a long day to unwind. The characters are beautifully written and I came to love them within the first few pages and was rooting for them all the way to the end. At times I wanted to stop reading because I just wanted the experience to go on for longer.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love characters like Simon Larsen, one of the everyday 'heroes', a genuine, hard-working man who loves his family but has fallen on hard times and appears to have lapsed into depression. Whilst he has his flaws, I couldn't help but root for him throughout this novel.

Especially given his family situation.....we have all been there! Fighting against the in-laws who never seem to think we are good enough and can never truly do right in their eyes. Yet still he soldiers on determined to prove them all wrong, which he can do so long as he landscapes his friend's backyard in time for the Schnabels memorial service.....what can go wrong? Read on and find out.......

Like I say I really enjoyed this one, this book will work for you or not depending on whether you can relate or buy into Simon as a character - I certainly could. Never have I ever wanted a character to succeed more than I did Simon and he was someone I could definitely relate to.

The story was genuinely hilarious but also touched with sadness both in the story and in the character of Simon as he stumbled his way through life trying to reclaim his old self which he lost when he lost his house/business etc during lockdown.

Thanks to Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK, Piatkus for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Dinner with the Schnabels by Toni Jordan is a novel about a man whose life is falling to pieces. I found it a bit too overdone in places and predictable.

A modern tale featuring a devoted, but depressed husband and father who has married into an excessively enmeshed family. Trials and tribulations abound with relatives and an overbearing mother in law. Engagingly written with humor. Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

Dinner With The Schnabels is the sixth novel by award-winning, best-selling Australian author, Toni Jordan. Simon Larsen is happily married to Tansy Schnabel (and, if not quite so happily, to her family), and is the loving father of two wonderful children, Mia and Lachie. But, robbed of his practice as successful architect by the prolonged lockdown, he has spent much of the last two years feeling guilty and deficient as they live in a cramped flat while Tansy works to support them.

Suddenly, though, he is meant to drag himself out of his depressive slump to landscape a backyard. A combination of unreliable contractors and the urgent need for a venue for a memorial service mean he has committed to transforming the backyard of Tansy’s oldest friend, Naveen into the beautiful space he knows it could be, by Saturday. It’s Monday morning: no pressure, really!

The memorial is for David Schnabel, the father who left Tansy’s mother Gloria to raise three children on her own. Formidable woman that she is (read scary), Simon knows Gloria is highly sceptical of his ability to achieve this. Nor do her siblings, Kylie and Nick, radiate confidence in him. He absolutely cannot let Tansy down.

But with the best will to get started on the work, he is thwarted: Tansy insists on covertly watching the (days-early-for-the-memorial) arrival by train of the half-sister she and her siblings have never met, the child for whom their absent father was present. That backfires when Monica, young, kooky and unpredictable, spots them, and Simon watches in horror as his failure to provide for his family is put on display for a stranger.

Over the next days, Simon’s work is derailed multiple times: a long wait for a tardy refrigerator repairman; babysitting wrongly delivered pavers to prevent their theft; a mentoring coffee with a young former colleague who drops a bombshell; a bewildering meeting with the children’s headmistress revealing a problem that renders Simon incredulous; and a hint at marital infidelity that stuns him. Can he overcome all that to get the job done?

Jordan’s characters will be familiar to the reader, people we all know amongst our acquaintances, and their dialogue and behaviour is what we hear and see in our daily lives. Mia and Lachie are an utter delight, providing some priceless “what kids say” moments, while Gloria, the matriarch who is unequivocally convinced she knows what is best, is hugely entertaining.

Simon, always earnest and well-intentioned, often exhibits eye-rolling naïveté about modern life, venturing into cluelessness quite a bit, saying (or thinking) some truly groan-worthy things. But perhaps some of his vagueness is the product of his low mood.

His inner monologue reveals that incidents viewed through the prism of his depression and inadequacy take on quite a different slant when explained by others or later seen with the benefit of hindsight. It is satisfying to see that it perhaps takes hitting rock-bottom to crystallise for Simon just what truly matters in life.

As well as giving them some wise words and insightful observations, with her unfailing talent for writing humour Jordan endows her characters with plenty of wit and hilarity. And she does manage, within a page, to have the reader laughing out loud, then welling up with tears. Funny and heart-warming, Toni Jordan’s latest novel is an unalloyed pleasure to read.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK