This felt like a different step for Rachel, and I'm here for it.

Goose and his three sisters gather at the family's house by Lake Orta in Piedmont, Italy. Their father, a famous artist, has recently remarried a much younger woman and decamped to Italy to finish his masterpiece. Now he is dead and there is no sign of a painting.

Although the siblings have always been close, as they search for answers over that summer, the things they learn - about themselves, their father and their new stepmother - will drive them apart before they can come to any kind of understanding of what their father's legacy truly is.


I'll start by saying that none of the characters, apart from Goose, were particularly likeable, but their flaws were the making of the story. It's a tale as old as time - you can choose your friends but you can't choose your family. It was moody, melancholy and depressing yet funny, uplifting and entertaining. It's part mystery and part family saga. Who is this young woman that married their father, and can she be trusted? What secrets is everyone keeping?

Rachel Joyce is a gifted storyteller, and it is no secret that I am a huge fan. I've read everything she has written and loved them all. Is this my favourite? Probably not. Did I love it all the same? Yes!

Thanks for the ARC in exchange for my review.

This is a fantastic family drama but I found it quite dark which made it harder for me to engage with it. Four siblings who have a very close relationship in part due to their difficult childhood find their relationships become increasingly fractured after the sudden death of their father, his recent marriage to a woman younger than any of them further complicates the situation. All four are grieving in such different way and the impact their fathers death has on each of them probably highlights each of their most difficult traits, not helped by the subtle manipulation of their step mother. Interestingly the time after his death makes each of them reconsider their own futures but it takes a lot of negativity to reach that point. I think I found the core relationships between each child and their father quite difficult as each was troubling in its own way but they couldn’t necessarily see that so I found some elements quite uncomfortable but equally that’s the beauty of this book too as it really looks at the absolute core of the relationships and what has made each child the person they are today.

Another masterpiece by Rachel Joyce!
Big fat 5 stars from me!
Huge thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for my ARC

What an amazing book! I wasn’t sure about the story at the start - 4 entitled children of a self-taught and flamboyant artist gather after his death to find out how he died - but the detailed writing and beautifully evolving storyline pulled me in and I was hooked. Rachel Joyce writes with compelling gentleness and teases out the nuances and imperfections of family life, the effect of an egotistical father on his children and the power of love. And what an ending! This is her best book yet.