The Red House, tucked away in the Welsh
border hills, is a holiday cottage where a week’s vacation without TV, internet
or mobile phone reception can seem a long time.
For this week the visitors are the families
of semi-detached siblings Angela and Richard, who have only been in each other’s
company for one afternoon in the last fifteen years - at their mother’s recent
funeral.
Angela brings husband Dominic, teenagers Alex
and Daisy, and eight year-old
Benjy; Richard brings second wife Luisa and
step-daughter Melissa, sixteen going on twenty-one. They all bring their
secrets and hang-ups, destined to spill out in the struggle between good
intentions and bad behaviour. By the end of the week things – relationships, attitudes,
even lives - have been changed if not resolved.
Haddon speaks for all eight characters,
giving a multi-faceted account of the week. It works well, giving each a distinctive
and authentic voice; in particular he captures the adolescent psyche convincingly
(not surprising from the author of ‘A Curious Incident …’). The only discordant
notes are the occasional flights of fancy he indulges in when setting a scene.
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