'A very funny and original novel about political correctness and the fury between the generations with brilliant dialogue and characters who keep surprising. I read it all in one evening and laughed much of the time' Sally Emerson
Bill and Pete, best friends since school, are approaching 70 and now retired, but still meet regularly to chew the fat about sport, politics, their stagnant love lives, mutual friends and, increasingly, Bill's fractious relationship with his rebellious son Ivan.
Spanning the four years from the Brexit Referendum to the end of the first Coronavirus lockdown, we watch these characters, last seen in About Time, stumble their way through chaos, mistrust, generational differences and blossoming relationships, finding new life and unexpected happiness in uncertain times.
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'Well-observed, humane, and very funny.'
" - The Jewish Chronicle"
'Finely observed, often tantalizing novel...Estorick writes with wry, elegant ease. Sophisticated, apparently feather-light repartee has elusive, sinister undercurrents.'
" - The Jewish Chronicle"
'Full of incidental insights...consistently intelligent.'
" - Financial Times"
'A sharp satirist of class and family. He's adept at the nuances of domestic oppression, the bickering, the transmission of skewed hopes and frustrated affections across the years...arrestingly grotesque and finely compelling...its power lies mainly in its inconsequentiality...Estorick has an acute eye and ear and he'll certainly be heard from as a novelist again.'
" - The Observer