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A Novel
by Francesca Hornak
Book Reviewed by:A warm, wry, sharply observed debut novel about what happens when a family is forced to spend a week together in quarantine over the holidays...
It's Christmas, and for the first time in years the entire Birch family will be under one roof. Even Emma and Andrew's elder daughter—who is usually off saving the world—will be joining them at Weyfield Hall, their aging country estate. But Olivia, a doctor, is only coming home because she has to. Having just returned from treating an epidemic abroad, she's been told she must stay in quarantine for a week…and so too should her family.
For the next seven days, the Birches are locked down, cut off from the rest of humanity—and even decent Wi-Fi—and forced into each other's orbits. Younger, unabashedly frivolous daughter Phoebe is fixated on her upcoming wedding, while her older sister, Olivia, deals with the culture shock of being immersed in first-world problems.
Their father, Andrew, sequesters himself in his study writing scathing restaurant reviews and remembering his glory days as a war correspondent. But his wife, Emma, is hiding a secret that will turn the whole family upside down.
In close proximity, not much can stay hidden for long, and as revelations and long-held tensions come to light, nothing is more shocking than the unexpected guest who's about to arrive…
Prologue
November 17, 2016
Olivia
Cape Beach, Monrovia, Liberia, 1:03 a.m.
Olivia knows what they are doing is stupid. If seen, they will be sent home—possibly to a tribunal. Never mind that to touch him could be life-threatening. But who will see them? The beach is deserted and so dark she can just see a few feet into the inky sea. The only sound is the swooshing drag of the waves. She is acutely aware of the tiny gap between their elbows, as they walk down to the surf. She wants to say, "We shouldn't do this," except they haven't done anything. They still haven't broken the No-Touch rule.
The evening had begun in the beach bar, with bottled beers and then heady rum and Cokes. They had sat under its corrugated iron roof for hours, a sputtering hurricane lamp between them, as the sky flared bronze. They had talked about going home for Christmas in five weeks, and how they both wanted to come back to Liberia. She told him about Abu, the little boy she had treated and ...
If you enjoy modern family stories with a twist, don't miss this one (Beth T). This would be a great book club read, plenty of topics for discussion, like family secrets, sibling rivalry and cancer, just to name a few (Jennie R). Readers who enjoyed The Nest will probably eat this novel up (Anita P)...continued
Full Review
(694 words)
(Reviewed by First Impressions Reviewers).
Emily Giffin
Witty and deeply heartfelt. Marian Keyes
LOVED it! Warm and humane, funny and sad, with a great, twisty plot, Seven Days of Us is absolute pleasure reading from beginning to end. Francesca Hornak is a true talent. Just gorgeous! Rosamund Lupton, New York Times bestselling author
Francesca Hornak is hilariously funny with characters that jump off the page, grab you, and just won't let go. Stephanie Clifford, New York Times bestselling author of Everybody Rise
With its wry observations on class, family, and veddy-British traditions, Francesca Hornak's absorbing debut sparkles with glints of Nancy Mitford and Julian Fellowes.
In Seven Days Of Us, Francesca Hornak has her characters quarantined for seven days during the holiday season; Days trapped with one's family is stressful enough, but the added pressure of "The Holidays" can really turn up the heat.
So why, one might ask, are the holidays a particularly stressful time for so many? First, for those who celebrate Christmas, there's a myth that it's a joyful, stress-free time when one is supposed to feel love for all humankind. Those of us in the West – even those who don't necessarily celebrate Christmas – have been brainwashed by Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, in which families from all walks of life celebrate merrily, even those in impoverished conditions. ...
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