Livia has been looking forward to her 40th birthday party since her marriage - a substitute for the wedding event she never had; a chance for a reconsiliation meeting with her parents who disowned her after her early pregnancy. The novel happens in the 24 hours around the party. She and the father Adam married early. He's a freelance carpenter. She did an OU law degree.
Their son Josh (22) has been offered an internship in New York, thanks to his father. He and Adam fell out early following a phase when Adam gave him little attention. Adam's friend Nelson is like a substitute father for Josh. Their daughter Marnay (19) is in Hong Kong studying.
Josh has something to tell Adam. Livia has something to tell Adam. Livia (but not the others) knows that Marnay had a miscarriage in her first year by an inappropriate father she didn't name. At first Livia thought he might be a lecturer. Then she thought he might be Max - a family friend, almost a brother. Ian is quiet, married to extravert Izzy.
Nelson (34) is married to Kieran with twins and another child. Nelson doesn't yet know that Kieran is expecting more twins. Jess, Livia's oldest friend and wife of Rob, has MS.
Adam knows that Marnay is flying back via Cairo to surprise her mother. A plane crashes in Cairo. Was she on it? Adam books 2 tickets to Cairo then remembers about the party. Adam has a history of suddenly doing irresponsible things, especially early in the marriage - buying a motorbike, disappearing. He's sweet at other times. He'd planned to do a civil engineering degree.
Livia knows that Rob and Marnay are having an affair - Rob may well have been the father of the aborted child.
So there are many secrets. People suspect that others are being secretive, but is it the same secret?
Adam feels guilty for letting the party go on - suppose Marney is dead? Max tells Livia he knows about Marmy and Rob.
Josh tells Adam he doesn't want to take up the internship. He loves Amy too much. Cleo tells Adam that she knows about Marney's plan to surprise them.
Livia's mother appears. She says that Livia's dominating father died a few months before.
They overhear each other talking about a secret. She works out when he must have found out about Rob and Marney.
At the end of the party he phones the disaster line and finds the Marney's dead. He goes on his motorbike and gets done for speeding. Back home he mades love to his wife who thought it had been a perfect day. They try to tell each other the bad news. There's a misunderstanding, then disbelief. She's so angry about the delay in his revelation that she doesn't talk to him, which seems strange. She had delayed telling him about Rob. Next day Adam punches Rob. Later they decide not to tell people about Rob - for the sake of his ill wife. They have a party a year later.
It's strange that her profession isn't mentioned more. There's little backstory or emotional depth. Very plot-driven - who knows what and when did they know?
Other reviews
- Anne Logan
- Melanie Fraser
- debbish.com (This book is really well-paced. The ‘reveals’ and twists keep coming with regularity but underpinning all of that is a story of family and friendships and what happens when those relationships are tested or disintegrate. There’s the underlying question of obligation vs inherent desire, and exactly how far we can push boundaries or hurt those we love, before the ties are severed. ... Livia’s distancing herself from her best friend who’s got multiple sclerosis. She’s lost so many people in her life she tells us, she’s preparing herself for what’s to come – losing another.)
- goodreads
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