Frances Pilgrim is a 39 year old teacher of English. Her Father died when she was five and her Mother is getting more absent minded by the day. She wishes she could rely on her close friend, Jackson, but she ignored him during the summer break when he needed her. Frances world is falling apart – in fact she is not altogether sure it was ever totally together.

This is advertised as a witty book which will make me laugh. Unfortunately it wasn’t and it didn’t. Frances is quite a sad character in reality. Her life bounces around like a ball in a pinball machine. She has a mix of short and ill-advised affairs, one night stands and strange tinder dates. She seems to have little self-respect and certainly no idea where her life is going. I really did want to tell her to pull herself together and look at who she had become. Jackson was little better. A self-absorbed man with a tendency to leer at teenage girls – not good for a teacher. I found him a bit creepy.

Frances’ Mother is obviously progressing into dementia. I felt the author handled this quite well – the helplessness of Frances, the inability to talk to her Mother about it, the GP who means well but whose hands are tied unless there is a crisis or her Mother seeks helps – all regular issues around people who have dementia.

The story isn’t particularly original – Frances & Jackson don’t like each other when they first meet and then become friends until things get complicated. Frankly I am quite surprised that either of them wants to be with the other & wonder about the future of two people who spend so much time absorbed with themselves. The story jumps around quite a lot on Frances & Jackson’s timelines – often with no notice which could be confusing. I wasn’t keen on the ending. I felt it stopped quite abruptly. If you like a book that ties up the loose ends nicely then this isn’t for you.

This wasn’t a book that I particularly enjoyed. I will say that the author has created three dimensional characters with personality – not very likeable people in my opinion but they did have individual & believable personalities.

I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley.