"The legacy" by Caroline Bond

An audio book.

Jonathan left his wife, Eloise, and 3 kids to marry much younger Megan. When he dies from Motor Neuron Disease (MND) - he's about 50 - he leaves instructions that his children Liv, 37 (mother and doctor), Noah, 34 (father and hotel reviewer) and Chloe 26 (part-time M&S cashier) have to agree on splitting the inheritance otherwise all the money (except for £5,000 given to Lisa, the nurse for his final 7 months) will go to charity. And he said no burial until the siblings have decided.

Consolation letters show that Jonathan, a prof, was popular at work - unlike at home.

It's multi-PoV. The children meet at the family house in Scarborough (where Megan and Chloe live) for a weekend together. While they're alone they think about their pasts, and re-assess. In twos, old rivalries emerge. How should the money be allotted to Jonathan's parthers? Noah doesnt want to give the family-breaker Megan anything. He doesn't know that Jonathan has bought her a house, and that Eloise was happier without Jonathan. And Jonathan had wanted Megan to leave him in the final, undignified days.

Noah's relationship with Josie is struggling - he's away from home too much and drunks a lot. Liv's husband Angus and their 2 sons are there for the weekend. Liv's pregnant. She can't share the news with Angus because she wants to have an abortion. Chloe is recovering from a relationship with a girl who was in a stable relationship with a man.

During their chats they find it hard to escape the caricatures of family folklore. Liv learns that her father had secretly given £1000s to her siblings. Eloise and Megan meet for the first time and come to an understanding. Megan didn't seduce Jonathan - Jonathan and Eloise were ready to split, though the children don't all realise that.

Liv gets fed up of trying to conclude the discussion. Chloe takes over, and to everyone's surprise, copes. The siblings wonder whether their father hastened his death.

4 months later we revisit the characters. Lisa is freelancing again. She misses Jonathan as a friend. Eloise revists Venice, leaving her wedding ring where he'd proposed. Chloe is more confident. Noah has MND. He was distancing himself from his partner because he didn't want to put her through the suffering of nursing, but now Megan's told his partner, she forgives him. Liv might have the baby.

Other reviews

• goodreads

"One Split Second" by Caroline Bond

5 sets of parents are in the hospital waiting room after a car accident involving youths.

• Harry (driver? Or covering for someone else?). Minor injuries - parents divorced. Dom's the dominating father. He gets Harry a solicitor. Martha's his little sister.
• Jake. Broken leg but ok.
• Jess (Harry's girlfriend?). ICU. Injuries not very visible - Fran is her mother, Marcus her father
• Tish. ICU. Looks bad - Mother Sal. Has an on/off relationship with Jake.
• Mo - wasn't recovered from the scene, though he's missing. An academic high-flier. He's found at home having been left at MacDonalds by the others. His Asian parents are worried that he's been drinking, or that he's not popular.

Peter (loner divorce) could see the crash scene from his house opposite. When the police visit he gives an account. Did his cat cause the accident?

Who's going to stick up for whom when the police ask questions? Are the parents going to fall out? There's speculation on social media. There are interviews on TV.

Jess's life-support is turned off. The parents grieve, dealt with by the author in a standard way. She becomes a multi-donor. Marcus regularly goes to her room to talk to her. He goes through her phone. Fran wants to talk to Harry. Tish is released from hospital. Once a pretty girl, she's now disfigured, shy. Mo befriends her. Jake's worried that his broken leg will stop him playing football and having girlfriends. He fades from the story. It's unclear why he was ever in it. Charges are pressed. A deal is offered to Harry - careless rather than dangerous driving. Fran doesn't like it. Harry pleads guilty yet is sentenced to 4 years.

When Tish meets Harry in prison we learn that they'd been sleeping together secretly (even from the police), though Jess had remained Harry's true love. Tish and Mo are openly sleeping together. It's doing them both good.

Marcus doesn't go with Fran to visit Harry (restorative justice). She slaps Harry. She returns home realising she'd neglected Marcus. Eventually Fran, Marcus and Harry make up. Fran collects him from prison because Dom's too busy. At the end, back in time, we're with parents of a girl who's about to get a transplant.

The plot's full of emotive events. Consequently the writing can afford to be restrained. There are some inevitable set-pieces.