You've heard it so often, it's an obvious cliche. Don't judge a book by its cover. In this case, I don't mean the actual book, as the cover is quite nice. I mean the family and characters you'll find inside it.
I didn't know anything about this book before I picked it up and I'm genuinely worried that anything I write here will give too much away. I chased down this book and any other by Rachel Joyce after reading The Music Shop earlier this summer (link to review). That book was damn near perfect itself. Her characters and dialogue were so rich and compelling, I knew it couldn't be a fluke.
The family in this book embodies perfect in the 1970s. Businessman father, devoted wife, two lovely children. For the mother in this book, nothing is ever out of place and nearly everything is for show. But, very early on, you sense the cracks in the facade. And, when a sudden turn of events shifts the young son's world on its axis, nothing will ever be the same.
Was it the two "leap seconds" added that year that destroyed everything? Or was the incident that broke them all going to happen no matter what?
As I said, I don't want to reveal too much, as there are so many layers and players here. While I didn't love it quite as much as The Music Shop, it's a fantastic read.
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