Pubblicato in Italia con il titolo Riunione di famiglia. La famiglia Birch si riunisce per Natale, ma non per festeggiare le festività, ma per un forzato periodo di quarantena. Costretti a passare molto tempo insieme, risentimenti e segreti verranno a galla.
I really enjoyed this novel. Very Christmassy, fun, but also emotional. The protagonists are the Birch family: the father, Andrew, is a renowned journalist who just found out he had a son outside his marriage; Emma is the over-protective mother who hasn’t told the rest of her family that she has cancer; Olivia, the eldest daughter, is a doctor who just spent two months in Liberia curing people from a deadly virus and she has a secret relationship with one of the doctors who resulted positive to the virus; and then there is Phoebe, the youngest and spoiled daughter, who just got engaged, but she is not as excited as she expected to be about it. Because of Olivia’s contact with the virus, the entire family is forced into a week-long quarantine in Weyfield Hall, the family mansion in Norfolk. And when they are forced all together in the same place, with no contact with the outside, their secrets risks to come to light.
This novel is sharp, fresh, and intriguing. I loved all the characters, they are selfish and flawed, but they are also engaging and witty and I was really drawn into their stories and their secrets. This novel is family drama as each one of them felt resentment towards other members of the family and seven days closeted together in a house are a chance to resolve the issues they have (if they don’t kill each other first).
Sometimes it read like a soap opera, with many funny moments and also a few emotional ones (especially at the ending). About dysfunctional family and secrets, this is a gripping and heartwarming novel that will keep you glued to the page.
