Hard to Put Down!

This is a beautifully-written, intelligent, and witty novel. The author describes pandemic-era life in the UK, Ireland, and Europe with painstaking detail. Her central character, Marnie, is flawed but sympathetic; she’s a recently-divorced, middle-aged woman trying to find herself and establish some stability in her life, as she tries to locate her birth father and establish a business after she loses her job. The other characters are interesting and colourful, too. The novel is full of deep insights about human nature, especially the families we’re born into the families who adopt. It’s also honest about troubled relationships within families, especially Marnie’s with her emotionally distant birth mother Deirdre. A first-class read not to be missed! ( )