Well I've only gone and opened my big mouth haven't I? My last post was all about summer reads and the general marvellousness of the sunny weather. Today has felt fresher and we have had a downpour of rain throughout the day. The flowers in our garden are thanking their lucky stars and finally I am able to sleep after a number of hot sticky nights.

Read my review of Summer Wedding by Sarah Morgan

This weekend was a fun one a visit to see my in-laws, a spot of babysitting, a food festival and a very chilled afternoon enjoying the sun in a beer garden.

Today's review is an author who was swimming in well deserved accolades following the publication of her debut novel. I've had this on my shelf for a while. It's a book all about siblings and family.

The Plot

Dimple Pennington knew of her half siblings but she didn't really know them. Five people who don't have anything in common except for faint memories of being driven through Brixton in their dad's gold jeep and some pretty complex abandonment issues.

Dimple has bigger things to think about. She's 30 and her life isn't really going anywhere. An aspiring influencer with a terrible and wayward boyfriend. Dimple's life has shrunk to the size of a phone screen. And despite a small but loyal following, she's never felt more alone.

That is until a catastrophic event brings her half siblings Nikisha, Danny, Lizzie and Prynce, crashing back into her life. And when they're all forced to reconnect with Cyril Pennington the absent father they never knew, things get even more complicated.

My Thoughts

Queenie, Candice Carty-Williams last book was a Nibbies Book of the Year back in 2020, celebrating in a virtual awards ceremony due to lockdown. It would be interesting to see how the next novel would stack up against such an excellent read and I'm delighted to report very well.

The story is involving from the very start as we witness an attempt by Cyril Pennington to introduce his 5 children to each other. Cyril is the classic absent father, narcissistic and not involved in his children's lives at all. Choosing only to materialise when he needs something such as money. All his children have, in some small way, grown weary of life. But then one day Dimple finds herself in a difficult and terrifying situation and needs someone. She calls her eldest sibling, Nikisha, for help, who arrives at Dimple's home with the other siblings in tow.

What begins is a marvellous glimpse into sibling relationships and the meaning of family. Like all siblings they get on, share memories and fall out. But each has the others' backs.

It's funny and heart-warming, and yet, at times, has a dark sense of humour as the siblings decide the best way to dispose of a body and how the jobs are divvied out all while keeping it real on social media.

Dimple and her siblings are a great bunch of characters, all unique and wonderful flawed in their individual ways.

This was a great follow-up to Queenie. A complex and humorous look at familial relationships.