This is a wonderful, moving and funny novel (/memoir?). It's a quiet domestic drama portraying a 'nice middle-class British family', set in 1976.

Her mother dead, her alcoholic father a danger to her, Jackie is placed in foster care with the Wall family. Jackie is 14, old and wise beyond her years in some ways, and still an innocent young teenager in others. She writes poetry and just wants a calm, quiet life.

It quickly becomes apparent that the Wall's teenage daughter Amanda bitterly resents Jackie's presence in the home and her parents' attention to her. Bit by bit, the cracks appear, the family start to unravel.

The novel is wonderfully paced, beautifully written and very funny. The dialogue is excellent. Jackie is naturally witty: her foster-father, 'Uncle' Nick gets her, her foster-mother, Bridget, doesn't and Amanda just seethes. Yet all are portrayed with understanding and humanity.

I was 16 in 1976, and I loved being thrown back into the domestic environment of the time. It's left me with 70s pop hits running through my head and a craving for ham and potato salad.

What a page turner. I would highly recommend. Discusses sensitive topics including domestic abuse. A story of sadness, happiness and hopefullness. A brilliant book.

A delightful tale about a teenager, Jackie, who has had none of the breaks that she deserves and the blows just keep coming. It’s not maudlin though as this feisty funny character seems to have turned her disadvantages into a self sufficiency you can’t help but admire.
I loved it and couldn’t wait to get back to reading it so that’s always a great plus. Yes towards the end it’s gets a bit rushed and people are introduced in what seems a device to fill out existing characters but nothing could spoil the overall effect this book had on me.

I loved this - it gave Judy Blume vibes in the best possible way. Jackie is taken in as a foster child and holds a mirror up to the supposedly perfect life of the family that cares for her. Thanks NetGalley!

Set in the heatwave in Summer of '76, we meet a teenage Jackie Chadwick as she is fostered by the Wall family. As we soon find out, she is the cuckoo the title describes as she is not accepted well by Amanda, their daughter. This resentment is only increased as Jackie's relationships with foster parents Nick and Bridget grow.
It's a very charter driven story, with some quite heavy emotional scenes. Both good and bad I hasten to add, which maintains the overall balance of the book. Jackie is a great character. Her past is not her fault, he relationship with her father still strong despite the dysfunction. And she is very easy to connect to and root for. Similarly, I can also understand Amanda's point of view and how she feels when a stranger is thrust upon her. One who, in her eyes, is stealing her family. She does some wicked things, but does that make her a wicked person?
The seventies are described wonderfully. Well, from what I recall anyway having been 6 in '76. But I did go through my own emotional memory lane and it was quite a journey!
I could probably wax lyrical for ages about the wonder that is this book. But it's spoil things if I went too far. Suffice to say that I will definitely be getting the Audiobook when it is out and revisiting the wonderful characters I really didn't want to say goodbye to when I turned the final page on this book.
My thanks got to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

An outstanding page-turner which considers the elements of family relationships. It follows 14 year old, Jackie who goes to live with a first time foster family. the Walls. It’s moving, sad but also heartwarming. An amazing debut

Actually 4.5 stars

During the summer heatwave in Britian in 1976 Jackie Chadwick moves in with foster family, the Walls. Jackie has been living with her grieving, alcoholic father, and desperately needs care and stability. This is offered to her in the form of the conservative, middle class foster family to which she is sent when life with her father finally becomes untenable. But are the Walls as stable and conservative as they might first appear?

At first I was uncertain of this book, I found the writing style to be quite terse, which is necessarily to my taste, and the first person perspective is written in present tense, which I don’t often get along with. Yet, as I continued to read the book I found myself warming to the writing style, and in particular the character of Jackie, our protagonist. I thoroughly enjoyed Fran Hill’s characterisation of Jackie, her voice and personality felt authentic, and her perspective was very interesting to read from. I found the other characters to be very well written and interesting as well.

In this book we follow Jackie, a fourteen year old who is sent to live in foster care due to her fathers alcoholism and his subsequent inability to adequately care for Jackie. Jackie is taken to a seemingly very settled and ordinary nuclear family with a daughter, Amanda, who is Jackie’s age. Jackie settles in quickly with the family, despite Amanda’s obvious suspicion and angst towards Jackie. Throughout Jackie’s stay with the Walls, the veneer of respectability begins to slide and some of the family's hidden secrets start to come to light. I really enjoyed this exploration of this middle class family trying desperately to hide behind their veneer of respectability, I thought it was well written and extremely believable.

Throughout the book there is a real sense of uncertainty, a sense that something is not quite as it seems and things are about to erupt, which it does do, secrets are revealed, and the family’s cohesion is shaken. I thought this was well done, however, it was slightly misleading, due to the name of the book. Cuckoo in the nest implies a different direction for the story than it actually went in, and so I found I couldn’t give it that final half star to bring it up to a full 5.

The ending was also quite abrupt, with no real conclusion being drawn, which is also why I have given this a 4.5, rather than a full 5 stars.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I would highly recommend it.

Round up to 3.5 stars

CW: Alcoholism, domestic violence, foster care system, eating disorder

This is a touching coming-of age story that deals with some tricky themes with warmth, humour and sensitivity. The story follows Jackie, as she is moved into a foster family - discovering that they each have problems of their own. Jackie is intelligent, loyal and witty - and her mature perspective on what is happening around her demonstrates her resilience, and hope.

An enjoyable read, that kept me hooked throughout.

This debut novel will be released on April 26, 2023. Legend Press provided an early galley for review.

I was a child of the Seventies, so the time period of this story really attracted me (in 1976, I was slightly younger than the main character Jackie). The cover design of the book also has a groovy vibe to it (the font, the colors) so it put me in the mood for a jump back to a past I know very well. Unfortunately for me, the story is set in 1976 in the UK, so I had to rely on looking up some of the references (others I got just fine).

The story deals with some very powerful issues like alcoholism, abuse and more. Hill uses her many years of wisdom to approach these topics in a very careful manner and keeps their darker tones at bay with her lighter dialogue and narrative. In a way, that very much reflects the era of the Seventies that I remember.

Overall, I think this novel would be well suited for both adult and teen audiences.

I absolutely adored this book! It was a touching, nostalgic coming of age story set in the 1970s. Jackie is a fourteen year old struggling to keep things going with her alcoholic father before being placed in foster care. She has to navigate her new situation and does so with humor and maturity while dealing with the personalities and problems each member of her foster family are dealing with.

A fantastic book! It tells the story of teenager, Jackie Chadwick, who is fostered by the Walls - a family who seem at first to have it all together, although the cracks quickly show. I really liked Jackie's character - her resilience and her sense of humour despite the many challenges life throws at her - and I wanted to keep reading.
The book tackles several difficult issues - abuse, infidelity, eating disorders and alcoholism - but it does so in a way that is compassionate and ultimately hopeful.
I'd highly recommend this book and I would love to read more about Jackie's life in the future.

This is such a gorgeous book, full of love and compassion for all of its characters, even the ones who seem less likeable at times.

Its 1976, 14 year old Jackie has lived with her alcoholic dad ever since her mum died of cancer. She pretty much takes care of everything, the cooking, cleaning, washing, frightened of her dad's unpredictable reaction if she asks for anything. She has had to resort to shoplifting food on more than one occasion to keep the pair of them going. When things get too bad, Jackie is sent to live with a foster family, Nick and Bridget Wall, who have their own 14 year old daughter Amanda. Its the first time that the Walls have fostered so its a learning experience for all of them; they all have their differing approaches to making Jackie feel more (or less) welcome.

Jackie herself is a joy to read about, she's intelligent, witty, resilient, making the most out of life without being a Pollyanna. She is torn between appreciating the less chaotic lifestyle with the Walls, and missing her dad, feeling responsible for him even though they're not under the same roof.

Amanda struggles with Jackie in the house, her usual teenage insecurities heightened by a girl that she's meant to make feel welcome. Amanda's own journey is a cry for help, looking for affirmation from her own family. Nick and Bridget are also a great couple to read about, they are trying their best for Jackie, maybe sometimes to the detriment of their relationship with Amanda

The story is littered with wonderful one-liners and little moments, there are such lovely phrases and images throughout.
Highly recommended- I hope to read more from Fran Hill in the future

Wow what a story. Reminded me of The Trouble With Goats and Sheep. You can feel the heat of the summer, picture the fashion of the time and understand the trauma of each character. I would highly recommend this to anyone who wants a good read.

It's the long, hot summer of 1976. Jackie magazine is on the shelves, people are openly wearing corduroy trousers and cheesecloth tops and, inexplicably, the Wurzels are topping the charts. Our heroine, fourteen year old Jackie Chadwick, is in a dangerous and painful situation, caught between the demands of her alcoholic father and the queasy realisation of her teachers that Something Needs to be Done. Jackie finds herself the occupant of a newly painted sunshine yellow room at the Wall family house, a reluctant foster child in a strange and confusing place. Surly Amanda Wall resents her foster sister from the minute she arrives, father Nick spends most of his time at work or hiding in the shed and brittle, OCD mother Bridget is desperately trying to keep the veneer of perfection gleaming as dark secrets lurk beneath.

Fran Hill has pulled off a rare feat with this remarkable novel. I don't do deeply buried painful family issues and 1970s reminiscing very well, yet I consumed this book in two greedy sittings. It is just so delightfully well written, funny, wry, full of sly jokes, sad, poignant and painful, all at once. I simply love Jackie, bright, funny, loyal and doing her very best in a horrible situation not of her own making. The depiction of the late Seventies is pitch perfect. I could almost smell it as I read.

There are few authors who can leave me laughing and simultaneously gazing at the perfect semi circle of nail marks on my palm. I so desperately wanted things to work out for Jackie who deserves a better hand than the one life has dealt her. There are no neat endings and tying up of narrative threads (thank God) but good things happen. I can't tell you how much I want to read more about Jackie. Please write a sequel Ms Hill!

Thank you to Legend Press for the ARC. I was under no pressure to leave a favourable review.

This book was a sheer delight.

The narrative voice of the fostered teen Jackie Chadwick is brilliantly crafted by Fran Hill with both poignancy and humour. Jackie’s story is utterly compelling and is somehow simultaneously tragic AND overflowing with life and hope.

As Jackie scales the mountain of her difficult life experiences, so too do the characters who surround her and it is their real, flawed natures that make this story such a joy.

I need there to be a sequel…if not a series. I’m invested now!

I really liked matter of fact Jackie. She had a rough go of things in the book but she had a real fun personality and sense of humor that was very charming. I could see this as a series where we dip in and see Jackie at very points of her life.

I found this a heartrending, funny and utterly captivating novel. Set in the heatwave of 1976 (which I myself remember well), the story is narrated by highly intelligent 14 year old, Jackie Chadwick, who opens with a deadpan, spare, stark account of the daily realities of her life with her disabled father, who, following her mother’s death, became a violent alcoholic. Jackie eventually accepts the help offered to her by the Social Services, and goes to live with a foster family, the Walls, supposedly on a ‘temporary’ basis. The Social Workers, first Bobbie, and later Cynthia, come over very well, doing their very best in the circumstances and showing sensitivity and compassion (as a similar character did in the book ‘My Name is Leon’).

Jackie herself is bright, perceptive, and full of wit, despite her tragic background. When she enters her new ‘temporary’ home she soon discovers that her would-be foster mother Bridget tries too hard, wants everything to be perfect, and borders on the obsessive compulsive; while Bridget’s husband Nick avoids conflict and hides himself away in his shed much of the time, restoring bicycles. Meanwhile, Amanda, their daughter, rude, surly and ungrateful, is deeply resentful of Jackie’s presence, and makes no attempt to disguise it. Throughout the dry, acutely observant and often very funny narrative, we, along with Jackie, take small incremental steps towards getting to know each family member more closely, their personal and emotional issues and relationship difficulties. The author keeps the momentum steadily rising with her incisive depiction of uneasy family dynamics, and the reader is held captive trying to anticipate the inevitable crisis point but with no idea when that is going to happen. Flashes of dry humour slip in unexpectedly often making the reader laugh out loud.

Jackie’s resilience and sarcasm carries her through all the provocations by the bitter and troubled Amanda. I found the accounts of Jackie’s attempted contacts with her father moving and very sad, and this aspect of the novel did remind me a little again of scenes in ‘My Name is Leon’, in which we see the unbreakable loyalty of a child towards an abusive parent. The adults around Jackie are clearly not coping at all, while she dispassionately observes and records what is going on.

Surprisingly as the novel progresses, I come to like Amanda, thinking I would probably feel just as he does, if I were in her place. Bridget’s obsession with putting up a perfect front backfires, and the family explode in open warfare; followed by a slight rapprochement between Amanda and Jackie. When Jackie visits her dad in prison, he makes a devastating confession. Then the family heads into an even great crisis with shocking revelations about the adults, leading Amanda and Jackie to start building a curious alliance. I loved the way the author handles the delicate transition for Amanda from open hostility to acceptance, and the edgy way the two girls navigate moving towards a new understanding of each other. This is an outstanding novel of family relationships and an uplifting tale of personal resilience which many readers will be able to identify with even if they have never shared Jackie’s tragic background.

Many thanks to Net Galley and to Legend Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I couldn't put this down! Author Fran Hill quickly draws the reader into the complicated world of Jackie Chadwick, who has just been taken into a foster home for reasons which emerge as the book progresses. Jackie has to negotiate the ups and downs of living with her new family - some of whom are more welcoming than others - as well as grappling with the day-to-day issues of being fourteen.

Because of the subject matter, Cuckoo in the Nest had the potential to be a difficult and upsetting read, but Hill has managed to avoid this. While the more difficult issues are not simply glossed over, Hill has balanced this with a deft use of humour and a sense of hope running throughout the book.

All the characters struggle with their own issues, making them seem much more credible. I particularly liked the way the that the social workers who support Jackie and her foster family are not one-dimensional stereotypes but genuinely care about Jackie's well-being.

I'm really hoping there's a sequel!

Sweet and charming, and full of nostalgia for the 70's and the heatwave.
Never afraid to tackle tricky subject though, the first part especially, when Jackie is living with her father.
Her matter of fact attitude to life, and sense of humour as she battles an awful situation.
Jackie is quite the character, I could happily read a whole series of books about her.
Glad I stumbled across this one.

This was such a quiet, charming, engaging book. It follows Jackie as she leaves the home with her single, alcoholic dad and goes into "temporary" foster care with the Wall family--including their teen daughter Amanda. It's the 70s in England and there are a lot of references alluding to that, and while I didn't get a lot of them, it added to the story. You'd think this might be a depressing book, and there were some sad moments, but it was funny in many parts, thanks to Jackie and the other well-fleshed out characters. really loved this one!

Thanks so much to NetGalley for the ARC. This was a wonderful book that will stay with me.