I struggled to get into this sadly.
There were a lot of characters to keep track of with lots of flashbacks that didn't really help.

The conflict and siblings' rivalry was interesting as I'm sure many can relate, but again, there was just a little too much going on for me to really gel with anyone.

Thank you netgalley for sending me an advanced copy of The Favourite. I'm sad that I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped I would.

I really enjoyed the author's first novel, Amazing Grace Adams, and could not put it down. I didn't feel quite so strongly about this one, but it did keep me reading, and that was quite an impressive achievement given that the subject matter was both more diffuse (large, middle-class family, lots of characters) and more ordinary (large, middle-class family, etc). I sometimes feel disappointed when an author who writes a singular debut goes into this territory and couldn't finish the second novel of the author who first wrote 'The Stranding,' for this reason. However, in this case the characters were sympathetic enough to make a difference.

Patrick and Vivienne seem to be the 'perfect parents,' but in their seventies, they are worried about certain memories coming to light, and while they love bringing up slightly naughty memories from their girls' childhoods, there are some things they don't talk about - like the burns their oldest daughter received in the first moments of a camping holiday, or that they separated for a few months due to the guilt and only got back together after a drunken roll on the 1970s yellow carpet led to youngest daughter Eva.

Eva, the 'band-aid baby,' becomes the unwilling focus of her sisters' resentment when her father jumps to save her from an accident they all thankfully escape in the present day., but doesn't help older sisters Alex and Nancy, who are both struggling in their own ways and find this apparent betrayal from their Dad to be too much to add to their middle-aged cognitive loads. Alex is struggling with a new baby at forty-five and Nancy has an envelope from the hospital she can't bring herself to open. Eva, the success story despite being the 'baby who had a baby,' in her twenties, is concerned that she may have married the wrong guy, particularly when his creepy son shows up on this doomed family 'holiday'.

I still feel as though this book could have benefited from a tighter focus, particularly on the sisters, and I struggled to tell them apart at first despite the author's best efforts. However, this deserves to do well despite a couple of the emotional payoffs being unearned (there actually IS a tragedy in the Grace Adams novel, and two of them are averted here - a falling tree and the mother getting lost in a storm - and I'm not completely sure how I feel about having my emotions manipulated for something that doesn't go ahead, but that could be over-pickiness).

This was wonderful. Asides the instigating plot point - a falling tree is about to crush all three sisters and the father chooses to save only <I>one</I> of them - the plot was completely character driven. I <I>loved</> that - give me all the introspective, deepest darkest thoughts! The chapters always jumped perspective and character POV right at the peak of the latest drama so that you were thrust into the aftermath varying amounts of time later. It kept me intrigued as it would take a little while to reduce exactly what had happened, but you'd always get an inkling from the way the other characters were behaving. The constant drama kept escalating and I couldn't put the book down for a solid evening until i had finished it.

I'm the oldest of three sisters so this was always going to be relatable. Luckily, Alex, Nancy and Eva have completely different personalities from my sister's and I, so it didn't hit <I>too</> close to home. What did resonante was the amazing relationship between the three of them - the closeness that has you ready to tear out your sisters hair one minute then die fighting to protect them the next. Fran Littlewood must be one of three - the references to the oldest sibling tendency to play adult, specific "big sister" and "little sister" looks that mean different things, the way they would pester their older teenage sister until she exploded in rage, the physical fighting even though they are adults, regressing to kids when their own kids aren't there, the little jealousies, THE CLOTHES STEALING!

I also found it really clever that they all remembered key life events completely differently - the outlandishness often corresponding to how young they were.

This was my first Fran Littlewood but I'm off to check out her debut novel now.

Thansk to Netgalley and Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

An interesting plot but a somewhat confused execution with different voices and timelines. Parts I did enjoy and could relate to, to a certain extent, who hasn't come across favouritism within a family. The book is essentially about the rivalry between three sisters but with lots of other relationships thrown in the mix - parents, partners, children, colleagues many of them quite firey, do adult siblings really bite like three year olds. I didn't really engage with any of characters overall and found the book quite slow but with too many things happening.which made it quite bizarre and almost comic at times. The book near the end was slightly strange with quite a few unresolved storylines.

Thank you to NetGalley and Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House for this ARC.

The three Fisher sisters Alex, Nancy and Eva usually get on ok, but when the entire family including parents, partners and children meets for a week's holiday in a glass house in the forest (the metaphor is not subtle at all) to celebrate a naming ceremony and matriarch Vivienne's 70th birthday, something disconcerting happens - their father involuntarily picks a favourite amongst his daughters which causes all kinds of conflict and sibling rivalry.

I could not get into this. There were too many people, too many flashbacks and yet too little of note happened. I didn't really like any of the characters sufficiently - their relationships were all over the place, animosities were aired, secrets and lies exposed and it felt like one big dysfunctional family. And I couldn't engage with it. For example, who doesn't tell their family they got married? The fragmented writing style is infuriating. The jumpy timeline is incredibly confusing. Where is the structure? Just when we're about to get to an interesting revelation, the scene breaks off and we're in another flashback or back to the present. I really liked Amazing Grace Adams but this wasn't for me.

Vivienne and Patrick Fisher have raised their three girls, Alex, Nancy and Eva who now have families of their own. It’s Vivienne’s 70th birthday and all are gathered to celebrate this milestone in the countryside in the most incredible glass fronted property, a la Grand Designs. On the first day in the woods, the siblings have a lucky escape from potential disaster but what it achieves is to reveal which of the sisters is Patrick’s favourite. Shockwaves reverberate, old wounds are reopened, tensions rise as the past is examined in this latest novel from Fran Littlewood. Each sister and Vivienne give their memories and perspectives of various incidents over the years in this intense domestic drama. Are their recollections accurate or flawed by time? Are all of them wearing masks with fixed grins as they stare into a potential abyss?

As one of three close siblings, I’m all too aware of family dynamics and over the years we’ve often discussed who my parent’s favourite offspring might be!! This is a reflective, revealing novel and it does make me pause and think about our own dynamics, thankfully ours don’t go pear shaped like this one does. The shifting dynamics between the sisters, between Vivian and Patrick and between the parents and their children are all fascinating. The memories do take a bit of a wandering, meandering path but that’s what memories do, so it feels authentic. As the holiday progresses there are some nuggets that come to the surface and it becomes emotional, painful and raw although on occasions it can be witty and very funny. It does get a bit slow in the middle when they recollections are not especially exciting more of the normal cut and thrust of everyday life but then the anxiety and stress levels rise and how. Despite their best efforts at fakery on several levels, the holiday becomes a doo-doo show for multiple reasons. There’s a lot of unravelling as the many papered over cracks fracture and split. It becomes quite dramatic, potentially disastrous and I’m not sure how it’s all going to work out but I love the ending. Yes, after all the drama that’s what it means to be a sister. It’s priceless.

The characterisation is excellent even the ones on the periphery are deftly portrayed. I become very attached to Nancy, I love how she often tells it how it is. Even Alex begins to grow on me!

Finally, as for the superb setting at the glass house, it becomes a terrific metaphor for the ensuing dramas as people in glasshouses definitely shouldn’t throw stones. I love how the house reflects back what is going on, a clever touch if a bit unpleasant!.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Michael Joseph at Penguin Random House for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

The Favourite follows the Fisher family as they gather to celebrate their mother Vivienne’s 70th birthday. Things take a bit of a turn however, when their father accidentally reveals his “favourite” daughter, stirring up old tensions amongst the sisters Alex, Nancy, and Eva.

The book moves between past and present, showing how the sisters’ childhood shaped their relationships. It captures the mixture of love, jealousy, and humour that comes with family life.

This is a great read for anyone who loves a family drama! An entertaining 5-star read!

Loved this family drama, it was a deliciously fun read. The story kicks off when during a family getaway the family patriarch accidentally makes it known in subtle - but certain - terms who his favourite daughter is, then jumps perspective as the members of the family grapple with the truth of this reality and what it means for them. Weaving together past and present, I loved the dynamics of the sisters and the roles they each play in the family. It was great fun to peel back the layers of the family dynamic and refreshing to read a novel about sisters with such a witty bent.

I really loved Fran Littlewoods debut novel “Amazing Grace Adams” and was eagerly anticipating reading this , her second novel.

While it didn’t hit the same highs of her debut, I did very much enjoy this family drama. Alex, Nancy , Eva are three sisters in their 40s/ late 30s navigating their own family lives and their relationship with each other and their parents. The entire family including spouses and children are away in a luxury isolated house for a week to celebrate their mother’s 70th birthday. In a moment of tension and chaos, their father accidentally reveals he has a favourite daughter and the fall out is the basis of this book.

I did enjoy this book, it captures the messiness of family dynamics well and the characters were well drawn allowing the reader to easily know who was who amid a fairly large cast of characters. The book goes back and forth in time and is told from multiple perspectives , this also works well.

I did find the pacing a little uneven in the middle section of the book and my mind was prone to wandering a bit when reading but the final quarter brought me back fully on board and fully invested in this family.

Great writing and an enjoyable read.

3.5-4 star

This is an engaging novel about sisterly relationships among adults and how familial rifts are carefully negotiated every day. The sisters in question are Alex, Nancy and Eva who gather at a luxurious holiday let to celebrate their mother Vivienne’s seventieth birthday. Each sister has done well for herself and is blessed with a good job, loyal partner and delightful children, so why is there still so much petty animosity between the three? An unfortunate incident on the day of arrival brings old rivalries and loyalties to the fore in ways that nobody could have imagined.
Well-written, my only criticism of this novel is that many of the multiple points of view are delivered by third-person narrators, when first-person narrators may have been more honest and unfiltered. Nevertheless, this is an insightful novel about family dynamics where nothing much happens on the surface but plenty below it! Thank you to the publishers and to NetGalley for the free ARC that allowed me to read this novel and familiarise myself with the author’s work.

I was expecting a little more from this. It took me halfway through the book to distinguish between the sisters so that doesn’t say much for the characterization. However, there was something beguiling about the writing and how the author handled the topic, so it’s a solid three stars from me.

A good story with lots of threads going on relating to how messed up families can be. You did have to be on it, paying attention to who is talking and when from but overall enjoyable.

This book is excellent. It perfectly captures family dynamics and the fact that, on the surface everything looks perfect. It just takes one small thing to fracture relationships and uncover damaging and deep-seated secrets, it explores how we may all grow up in the same house with our siblings but we have very different memories of that. It shows how family folklore runs deep and it sets the tone for our lives.

It explores the close relationship between sibling, in this case sisters as well as the undertones of rivalry, between them. The sisters in this book may resent each other in ways but the author shows the true nuances between siblings relationships the unbreakable bond as well as the sometimes pure hatred and pettiness. With humour and heart it shows how we fall into the roles we are assigned with in our family I loved how the grown up successful daughters fall into the childhood roles almost instantly when faced with a big family gathering at a luxurious holiday home to celebrate matriarch Vivienne’s seventieth birthday whilst there’s very little in the way of a traditional plot, the story focuses on the Fisher family while this is going on. Hearing from all three sisters in the third person and Vivienne we move from the present to the past to hear their story the author is particularly effective in choosing to focus on the trivial in order to explain the important moving the book along at a great pace that keeps you wanting to read more and more, there is a hint at mystery and misunderstanding from the past that could explain why the favourite is indeed the favourite. For me this really levelled it up from a good family saga to a brilliant one. I loved the dark humour though out, in particular the tone from Nancy the middle sister there are a lot characters in this book but all are well developed and added to the story.

I really enjoyed this raw, tender and funny family saga. Full secrets, lies and all that makes family families .

This book is excellent. It perfectly captures family dynamics and the fact that, on the surface everything looks perfect. It just takes one small thing to fracture relationships and uncover damaging and deep-seated secrets. Explores the close relationship between sisters as well as the rivalry. Great read.

Fran Littlewood’s debut novel, ‘Amazing Grace Adams’ was a very enjoyable read and ‘The Favourite’ is just as compelling. Whilst there’s very little in the way of a traditional plot, the story focuses on the Fisher family as they gather at a luxurious holiday home to celebrate matriarch Vivienne’s seventieth birthday – not that she wants this sort of a celebration.

On the first day as they gather in the woods for baby Dolly’s naming ceremony, a tree falls with devastating consequences. But not the kind you might imagine.

Throughout the narrative, Littlewood takes us back and forth in time so we see how the three sisters, Alex, Nancy and Eva, have become the adults they are. The author is particularly effective in choosing to focus on the trivial in order to explain the important. For most of the story we see how good the sisters are at dissembling and from whom they may have learnt this particular trait, without even recognising that they have. However, the truth will out in the end.

The author captures the sisters’ special relationship extremely well. Their caustic wit and buried jealousies combine with innate understanding to present the reader with an entirely realistic trio. Dealing with disaster through stupid jokes, Eva thinks, ‘This is the vernacular of sisters. It’s childish and absurd and funny and infuriating and painful, and it’s beautiful. They are under her skin and in her heart, these women, her sisters. She has no choice in the matter.’ Whilst this sums up the essence of the ‘The Favourite’, hopefully Littlewood will have the confidence to no longer feel that she needs to spell out key themes in her next novel. We already understand them loud and clear through her authentic characterisation.

My thanks to NetGalley and Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

Really enjoyed this book about family dynamics and what happens when secret feelings come out into the open. Interesting relationships and some great characters. Did I have a favourite? Yes, absolutely. Easily done it seems

It's an age-old question, isn't it? Do parents have favourites?
The Favourite follows the story of three sisters, all together with their families and parents to celebrate with a fancy naming ceremony for a young child.
Here they are in an idyllic setting, in the forest, staying in a state of the art glass house for a week, when something happens that raises a question in everyone's mind. Does dad really have a favourite?
All three women have vivid memories of their childhoods, and all three's memories have differences.
It was an intriguing premise, but I found it a little hard to stay engaged.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Randon House for a ARC.

I found it hard to get into this book and got confused about who was married for who! I might go back and try it again

The Favourite by Fran Littlewood

A family gathers at a spectacular holiday home for a celebration - Vivienne, Patrick, their three grown up daughters Alex, Nancy and Eva, partners and grandchildren - but things start to turn sour when Patrick accidentally reveals his favourite daughter.

Oooh this book is SUBLIME! A delicious concoction of a thriller/mystery element, family dynamics, comedy and tragedy... I couldn't put it down. Fran Littlewood's writing is so smart and witty and compulsive, and I LOVED the relationship/banter between the three sisters. The perfect novel - very VERY highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

As a deep-dive into family and and sisterly dynamics, The Favourite definitely delivers. It reminded me a little of This Family by Kate Sawyer - and also The Split on TV, with the three sisters and the matriarch set up.
Because I was reading it as a netgalley proof, it was harder to 'flick' back to the family tree at the beginning - which I would have done if I'd been reading it on paper. Because it took a little while for the three sisters' characters to solidify and that quick reminder of who was married to who, who came where in the birth order etc, would have helped.
The inciting incident is great - their father clearly reveals his 'favourite' daughter in a dramatic and memorable way. The family are staying in a contemporary house largely made from glass and, what with their father's actions and each sister having her own secret to hide, it's a salutary lesson that 'people in glass houses...'
The Favourite also has interesting things to say about the nature of home and memories - particularly how each of us might remember a difficult event differently. But it's the fostering, holding and letting go of secrets that breaks - and then mends - this family.