Stress Family Robinson 2 (by Adrian Plass)

(Amazon UK link)

Since I re-read ‘Stress family Robinson’ by Adrian Plass just over a month ago, I decided it was time to read its sequel. I last read ‘Stress family Robinson 2’ in 2010, and had mostly forgotten the story. The subtitle is ‘The birthday party’, and I had not even remembered whose birthday was being celebrated.

The first ‘...Robinson’ book is narrated by the family’s close friend known as Dip. The second book is narrated by Kathy Robinson, who is fast approaching fifty. I had just reached that milestone myself when I last read it, so could appreciate some of Kathy’s worries as she felt that life was racing by too rapidly. 

However by that stage of my life, both my sons had grown up and left home, whereas Kathy and her husband Mike still have all three of their offspring living with them. Jack is twenty-three, and a likeable young man who gets on with everyone. Mark has just turned 18 and is still regularly clashing with his mother. Felicity is ten, and as delightful as ever. 

Dip - whom I related to quite strongly in the first book - is still Kathy’s closest friend. She is treated by all the Robinsons as one of the family, although she’s still living on her own rather than accepting their long standing invitation to live with them. She pops in and out regularly, and sometimes expresses her frustration or irritation with Kathy. Kathy tends to react spontaneously, and is sometimes oblivious to other people’s feelings. She doesn’t want to hurt anyone, but is not gifted with tact or diplomacy. 

Dip has something preying on her mind, a forty-year-old secret that she hasn’t told anyone. She wants to share it with Kathy, but Kathy, instead, complains about her family, particularly Mark. When we learn Dip’s secret it’s poignant and moving, and Kathy begins, slowly, to pause and listen to God rather than expressing the first thing that comes into her mind.

As with so many of Adrian Plass’s books, this is a mixture of light-hearted and more serious. There were a couple of places where I laughed out loud, and others where I felt quite emotional. There’s a strong underlying Christian theme, of course; but none of the main characters is super-religious or pious. They are portrayed as ordinary, fallible people who really want to follow Jesus but often get it wrong. 

The story is told over the course of just one week, which is quite a momentous one since so much happens. We see the relationship between Mike and Kathy demonstrated beautifully in their actions, including their bickering and misunderstandings. The two are very different: Mike is a junior school headmaster, and likes structure to his days. He likes to plan things, and make lists. 

So it’s slightly surprising that Mike suggests a party for Kathy, with less than a week’s notice. Even more surprising is that dozens of people accept the invitation to a ‘sixties style’ party, and that they manage to get the house tidy, clean and organised in just one day. And at the end is one of those very poignant scenes which brought a tear to my eye, even though I had - a page or two earlier - remembered what was coming. 

Essentially it’s a story about a somewhat ordinary family with its mixture of love and annoyance, caring and apparent apathy. Kathy makes so many mistakes in her parenting, but her children do know that she would lay down her life for them if it became necessary to do so. And Mike, for all his apparent lack of emotion, has a deep love for his wife and children, and is willing to take almost any steps to show this, so long as they let him know what they want.

Overall, I thought this a wonderful book and hope I won’t leave it fifteen years before I read it again.

Definitely recommended; but best read after the first ‘Stress family Robinson’ book. They are out of print but can fairly easily be bought second-hand. They can also sometimes be found as a two-in-one edition called 'Keeping up with the Robinsons'. 

Review copyright 2025 Sue's Book Reviews