“Sometimes, in her sleepless hours, she watches the strips of moonlight slide across her bedroom ceiling, glances at that photograph, and thinks wistfully about the family she could have had, all the pictures of holidays that will never exist….And sometimes she thinks about getting a big glob of Blu Tack and squishing it right over Dan’s face.”
Those are some lines from chapter one of Jojo Moyes' newest novel We All Live Here. Lila has recently divorced her husband Dan after he left her for another mother at their girls' school. She has two daughters, Celie and Violet. Sixteen-year-old Celie is going through her own issues trying to fit in at school. Lila is a bestselling author who is trying to get motivated to write her next book. Her first one, on how to keep your marriage alive, was a success right before Dan divorced her and her mother died unexpectedly.
She hasn’t been able to write a word since between constant bathroom plumbing issues, taking care of the girls, looking after her heartbroken stepfather Bill, and finding out that Dan’s new wife is pregnant.
Early in the book, Bill moves into Lila’s house and takes over the cooking. And then Lila’s father, a has-been television actor, who she hasn’t heard from in 35 years, shows up at her house wanting to make amends and homeless. He moves in, too. They all live there…off and on throughout the story.
Moyes writes such readable novels with fun characters. I think I’ve read all of her books. If you’re looking for a novel about family relations and, are also a fan of Jojo Moyes, then you must read We All Live Here.
