Mum & Dad
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3.2 • 5 Ratings
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
Sunday Times number one bestseller Joanna Trollope explores the issues at the heart of a modern family with her trademark wit and warmth, in Mum & Dad.
‘What a mess, she thought now . . . what a bloody, unholy mess the whole family has got itself into.’
It’s been twenty-five years since Gus and Monica left England to start a new life in Spain, building a vineyard and wine business from the ground up. However, when Gus suffers a stroke and their idyllic Mediterranean life is thrown into upheaval, it’s left to their three grown-up children in London to step in . . .
Sebastian is busy running his company with his wife, Anna, who’s never quite seen eye-to-eye with her mother-in-law.
Katie, a successful solicitor in the City, is distracted by the problems with her long-term partner, Nic, and the secretive lives of their three daughters.
And Jake, ever the easy-going optimist, is determined to convince his new wife, Bella, that moving to Spain with their eighteen-month-old would be a good idea.
As the children descend on the vineyard, it becomes clear that each has their own idea of how best to handle their mum and dad, as well as the family business. But as long-simmering resentments rise to the surface and tensions reach breaking point, can the family ties prove strong enough to keep them together?
'Trollope writes about family relationships with intelligence and clear-eyed sympathy' - The Times
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Sudden illness impacts three generations of a family in Trollope's rewarding latest (after An Unsuitable Match). British expats Gus and Monica Beacham have run a successful vineyard in southern Spain since 1993. When a stroke leaves Gus temporarily mute and incapacitated, the couple's three adult children, all of whom live in England, must help Monica keep the business functioning. Jake, 38, the youngest of the three, decides to move his reluctant wife, Bella, and their infant daughter to Spain while masterminding a risky new vineyard expansion. Though his siblings Sebastian and Katie are puzzled by Jake's eagerness to leave England behind, they're too overwhelmed by their own lives not to be grateful for his initiative. Sebastian feels insecure and unimportant compared to his overachieving wife, and Katie struggles to balance a demanding legal career with care for a daughter who self-harms. As Gus confronts his new limits, Monica discovers that his frustration makes him even more stubborn and irritable than before, while Gus himself is angered by Jake's high-handed decisions. Trollope's warmhearted but unsentimental storytelling reveals her characters' flaws but also their capacity to change. This insightful look at the family tensions that develop as parents age will please the author's fans and resonate with a wide variety of readers.
