Family Album

Ridiculously readable. Lively displays an economy and elegance that put younger writers to shame- Sunday Telegraph Allersmead is a big shabby Victorian suburban house. The perfect place to grow up for elegant Sandra, difficult Gina, destructive Paul, considerate Katie, clever Roger and flighty Clare. But was it? As adults, the children return to Allersmead one by one. To their home-making mother and aloof writer father, and a house that for years has played silent witness to a familys secrets. And one devastating secret of which no one speaks . . . Livelys saga of a middle-class household in the 1970s and 1980s holds in balance the ideal of family life and its messy reality. Registering dark family secrets, it depicts warm nostalgia as well as bitter regret. In the end Lively gives us a forgiving fable in which something positive comes out of muddle and bad faith. Lindsay Duguid, The Sunday Times Lively at her best, sharp-eyed but sympathetic. Should delight her regular readers and ensnare new ones- Evening Standard Terrific . . .- Daily Telegraph Lively succeeds brilliantly in getting a hold on the climate of family life. Simply devastating- The Times A pleasure to read, hugely enjoyable, consistently absorbing, hilarious- Independent Any time spent with Penelope Lively is a joy- Observer