AJ. Taft

I don't think I have ever read a book so fast - ordered, arrived, finished in under a day! Absolutely brilliant. Personal circumstances had a lot to do with why the blurb caught my attention, but the characters, humour and true emotion of Alison Taft's writing kept me reading almost non-stop.

When university student Lily Appleyard's mother dies, she views her loss as a kind of release - from worrying about one parent, who was clinically obese and terminally depressed, and the start of a journey to find the other. Her father walked out on her mother before she was born, and Lily has been curious about him ever since. She's even had a letter ready to send to the Salvation Army since she was thirteen, asking for their help in tracing him. But what can she do when her father turns down her official request to meet him after all these years? Hop in a Mini with her best friend Jo and take matters into her own hands!

I love Lily. She's obviously fragile, broken down after years of watching her mother self-destruct, only to be rejected by her father, but at least she acts. I was afraid to, and now it's too late. She and Jo are a great comedy double act, and there are some really funny moments, as well as scenes which broke my heart. Her eventual reunion with her father also seems believable, especially after watching countless episodes of Long Lost Family - he's nobody's dream dad, but a fully fleshed-out human being, with faults and failings. I liked Fiona, Lily's strong-minded half-sister, too. Even setting the story in the late 80s added to the atmosphere, aside from the practical solution of removing mobile phones and the internet!

Recommended to all, not just those readers in the niche market of absentee parents!… (altro)