Mum and Dad (by Joanna Trollope)

(Amazon UK link)

I’ve enjoyed almost all the novels I’ve read by Joanna Trollope over the past couple of decades. So when I learned that she had a new book published last year, I put it on my wishlist as soon as it was available in paperback, and was given it for Christmas. It’s sat on my to-be-read shelf for nearly nine months, but I finally picked it up to read a few days ago.

Trollope’s novels are usually character-based, many of them revolving around families, dysfunctional or otherwise. This is no exception. The ‘Mum and Dad’ of the title are Gus and Monica, who are in their seventies and have lived in Spain for the last thirty years or so. Gus has run a very successful vineyard, but he’s cranky and rude, and Monica isn’t even sure she likes him very much any more. They no longer share a bedroom, and she has never really adjusted to life in Spain, although she does love early morning tea on her terrace.

They are surrounded by willing household employees who cook, and clean, and generally look after them. Monica has been nominally in charge of a small shop but that, too, has been staffed and mostly run by others. She has three adult children - Sebastian, Katie and Jake - who all live with their families in the UK, and she misses them. She visits fairly regularly, but they rarely come to see her.

Then a health crisis happens to Gus, and suddenly the family starts to rally round. Gus would like Sebastian to take over running his vineyard, alongside him; but Sebastian’s life is busy, running a cleaning company where his wife Anna does the accounts. They have two very likeable teenage sons, and are very settled. Besides, Anna has never been to Spain, and doesn’t much like Monica.

Katie is a high-powered lawyer who works too hard; she also doesn’t get along very well with Monica, possibly dating back to her childhood. She lives with Nic, who is a teacher and a very likeable, kind person. They have three daughters: Daisy who always wears black and stays out too late, thirteen-year-old Marta who is quiet and secretive, and Florence, who is the youngest and most outspoken.

And then there’s Jake, who is an eternal optimist, in a way that rather irritates his siblings. He insists that he can easily move from London to Spain and take over the running of the vineyard. His wife Bella is not at all sure she wants to, but they are both very committed to their toddler daughter, known as Mouse, so Bella agrees to give it a trial…

I’ve just written all that from memory; all their personalities and issues were realistic enough, and the people sufficiently three-dimensional that I felt as if I were part of the family, observing from a distance but involved enough to care about them all. Except, perhaps, the bad-tempered Gus - but even he starts to show a more human side later in the book.

The plot, as such, is about how the younger generation decide to move forward taking responsibility for their parents and their future inheritance. But the story is really about the interactions between the different family members, and I enjoyed it very much. The writing is excellent - even if it was amusing to spot Joanna Trollope’s signature mark of a beat dropping between significant sentences a few times - and some of the issues raised, about teenage problems and communication between the generations, are quite significant.

Definitely recommended if you like character-driven women’s fiction.

Review copyright 2021 Sue's Book Reviews