Hippies and religious cults all on the Dorset coast. Dennis Harris's coming-of-age story might be the most unusual of them all.*

* Unconscious bias to note, I wrote it.

It could almost be a romance, not that you should hold out much hope for the couple. Christian - Atheist. Where do minds meet?*

* Unconscious bias to note, I wrote it.

Half murder mystery, half family drama, oh, and the third half is a bit of a laugh.*

* Unconscious bias to note, I wrote it.

Funniest book set in a mental hospital you're likely to read. And they get out a bit, the beach at Torquay. And then there's the jazz music.*

* Unconscious bias to note, I wrote it.

The piano prodigy and the farmhand; a love and hate story. Grimy Stockport and the beautiful Lake District. Love and hate, not a little of both.*

* Unconscious bias to note, I wrote it.

A book about responsibility, about the challenges of family life, about a kid who grew up in care and made good(ish). A lot of dark fun.*

* Unconscious bias to note, I wrote it.

Hitchhiking in Algeria in 1980; culture shock as was then experienced; and the poor lad's from a bit of an odd family. This is a double odyssey, a concept only understood when the book is read!*

* Unconscious bias to note, I wrote it.

Not quite like any other book. As if Homo Flores could hold a mirror up to the Homo Sapiens who took away their chance of sustenance. And there's a few laughs along the way.*

* Unconscious bias to note, I wrote it.

interesting read about a messed-up family but.........

not sure the constant polyphonia was needed, I think it was Meg's story plus a few emails from Lolerelei

a bit too keen to give everyone a complicated consequence - Rory in Thailand felt more tell than show, didn't really buy late convert hippie-dad

some great stuff in it, never-the-less - all in Maggie O'Farrell territory

Loved this book.
Sardinia felt more sinister than I knew it to be, the lead character the only light in a gothic tale.
And I believed every breath.
Excellent stuff.

An extract:
‘Are you a real San Francisco hippy?‘ he asks. She continues to smile, doesn't look minded to answer the question. Might be the hash. It slows a lot of people down. ‘It would be a first,‘ he adds. ‘Half the hippies around here are only playing at it.‘
While he rambles, Mary, sitting to his other side, is just rolling her head with the music. She‘s the prettiest girl in the room but it looks a bit daft. Not caught the vibe properly.

An extract:
My parents separated before my stepmother ever came into the picture. She did not elbow my mother aside. I may have imagined she did when I was a child although even my own memories give me contrary evidence. A headstrong child such as I had no need of proof in order to blame the one who I already hated.

An extract:
‘Rice! It‘s a symptom that you were high, manic. You know about it, don‘t you? Being disinhibited, it‘s called. Not bothering that you‘re living with strangers in a hospital, treating it like it‘s your own home.‘
‘I live with two ugly brutes, Nurse Fiona. No one to get my clothes off for where I live.‘
Fiona looks closely into his face. ‘Did you want a little spell in the hospital?‘ she asks.

An extract:
Chance was behind their meeting, maybe it always plays a part. Centre stage that night. He still thinks that it was highly romantic. Probably the most love-charged night of his whole life. He has gone over it in his mind many, many times. Apart from his wooing of the wife he has let down, Charlie really hasn‘t done romance. Deep down he doesn‘t get it, never watches those films.

An extract:
The Dalton family were always a challenge to me, although I like two of her siblings, Thomasina and Vincent, well enough. For Corrie the family remains a life sentence, and this after I thought I‘d sprung her from its jailhouse. Jeremy, her father, and Killian, her other brother, are both bastards. We are of a like mind on that score. Where Honoria fits in—when she was living or now that she is dead—is far beyond my reckoning.

An extract:
Her smartphone vibrates against her thigh and then its feigned musicality begins. She looks at the screen, will not answer if it is the woman in hell trying to clamber back into Lily‘s realm.
‘Hello,‘ she says tentatively, no caller name appearing on the screen.
‘Lily, it‘s me, Garth. Do you remember me?‘
Her anger dies away. ‘Yes, I do remember you, the nutter with the bike.‘

An extract:
Dancing to music is not an evolutionarily useful skill. When done spontaneously it is clearly the power of the music which pulls. The routines and moves of the discothèque, even the moves of Claudine—the watching of whom Moss found very enjoyable—are little more than an expression of vanity. Look at me! Moss tried to push these overly cynical thoughts from his mind. Enjoy his dance with the pretty girl.

An Extract:
‘Look at that weird baby!‘ exclaims Justin. The tiny Connipian woman has taken it from her breast and they can see that the skin of the infant is deep red. As if blood vessels are at the surface of every pore. It‘s a miniscule creature. Nothing on screen shows them the true scale, the little mother‘s two hands encompass the child. And her hands must be half the size of a normal persons; everyone on Earth knows that.