Sadly this book wasn’t quite for me. I loved Issac and the egg so much, and therefore I really anticipated this one, but I just couldn’t truly click with the book. However, I feel it’s one I’ll come back to as perhaps this was more a book at the wrong time for me and hope I can update my review to a more positive one. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review #netgalley

“Small Hours” is the eagerly awaited new novel from Bobby Palmer, the author of the critically acclaimed debut Isaac and the Egg. Set against the backdrop of a wild old place, the story unfolds in the early morning hours, where secrets, connections, and fractured relationships come to light. In this enchanting tale, we meet Jack, who returns home after years away, determined to be different from his father. Gerry, the man under the same roof, prefers talking to animals over engaging with the angry Jack. A mysterious fox stands between them, and everything that follows is because of it. Jack’s mother is missing, and their lives intersect in unexpected ways.

The novel spans generations, exploring big dreams, lost time, and the moments that shape us. The healing power of nature, male mental health, and father-son relationships are beautifully woven into the narrative. If you met these characters in the small hours, you’d begin to piece together their intricate story.

This is a spellbinding read that delves into love, loss, and the transformative impact of the natural world. Bobby Palmer’s poetic prose invites readers to explore the quiet moments that define our lives. Remember, the small hours hold secrets waiting to be discovered, and this novel captures their magic!

I loved this book even more than his previous one. The plotline sounds ridiculous and even childish, yet somehow it works. At a low point in his life, Jack meets a talking fox, which launches him back into his home town and all he left behind.
A truly beautiful book with echoes of Charlie Mackesy and yet entirely unique. Moving and lovely, extremely well written, this is simply a gorgeous read.

Small Hours is a tender and magical read about love, loss, and the significance of nature in healing.

Bobby Palmer invites you in with his lyrical writing and melancholic tone to a family that has lost connection with each other but finds themselves back together under the same roof. Jack, the son, loses his job unexpectedly and his mother has gone missing. Gerry, the father, is struggling with his memory and can't remember where his wife has gone. Their fractured relationship might seem unmendable, but a talking fox may just change that.

Palmer shows great care in crafting his characters as they reflect genuine humanity and individuality along with their complex and often difficult relationships. The unnamed dementia of a parent and the constant inner battle of what comes first, the personal or the professional, are both covered realistically and with the care the topics deserve.

Throughout the several storylines, the power of nature and the importance of male mental health are highlighted and I found myself pulled in by the beautiful third-person narration and poignant albeit tragic at times, inner monologue of Gerry. The fox offers its perspective, often with clever lightness which moves the story along thoughtfully and profoundly.

Thank you NetGalley for sharing this enchanting book's ARC with me.

Thanks to netgalley and Headline for tbe arc of Bobby Palmers most recent book "Small Hours". I absoloutely loved Issac and the Egg, one which I recommended to many. Small Hours will be no different - I loved it just as much. Filled with poignancy, a beautiful family with a few cracks and a very clever Fox at its core, we join Jack on a journey to find his way back to his family and himself. I loved it

A beautiful meditation on families and a sort of adult coming-of-age story. The fox is a very creative foil for the main character, and lends a bit of lightness and fun to what would be an otherwise heavier topic. Difficult family dynamics, dementia in an aging parent and how that affects the other members of the family, and the pressures of success in the modern world are all very well handled here. Would highly recommend this book.

I loved Isaac and the egg so had high hopes. This was a lovely, thoughtful read but I was probably expecting a little too much. Some of the alzheimer's sections fell a little short, but the characters were engaging and I loved the fox!

NO SPOILERS

This is Bobby Palmer’s second novel, his first being Isaac and the Egg, which I previously reviewed. Now, the fox is no egg and it feels as though Palmer is wanting to repeat a successful formula. I was very fond of the fox, just as I had been the egg.

But here’s my big but (not literally, just a figure of speech and no pun intended) - whilst I liked the fox I did not like the book. It is simply too cozy for me.

However, there are passages I absolutely love. Being someone who is up at 5.00am (at the latest) and takes a mug of coffee into the garden, no matter the weather, to hear and breath in the morning, I was right beside Gerry as he did this. I love Gerry - he is the only character I did like. I cared not one jot for the rest.

The plot and story move along well enough but the end is rushed and a bit messy.

Still, the book is worth a read for the nature aspect. I suspect Palmer could write well in that genre.

This book is so lovely. I loved the different perspectives and the way that they were all woven into each other with such care and heart. This was really touching and poignant.

Beautifully written book about loss, love, and a talking fox.
Already can’t wait for the next Bobby Palmer.

I had such high hopes for this book, and it was easily one of my most anticipated reads so I was so excited when I found out that I had been approved for an ARC.

There's no denying that Bobby Palmer is a brilliant writer, he packs a lot of subtle emotion in his words making this a tender read at times. I can also appreciate the hidden meanings behind this story, and the themes of family, loss, and love.

This started off really strong and I was really enjoying the writing, however, once I reached the 40% mark I sadly found myself getting very bored. I kept reading waiting for something big and impactful to happen, which sadly it didn't. This is probably more of a melancholic read than I expected, which I am normally a fan of, but sadly I needed a bit more substance from this one to keep me feeling invested unfortunately.

Some very nice themes and writing, just not for me unfortunately as the lack of plot made this a bit of a struggle for me at times. That being said, I will still read whatever Palmer releases in the future as I am a fan of his writing style.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

very lyrical and poetic writing it struck me as a profoundly sad book more character focused than plot focused though i very much enjoyed the parts with the fox

This is such a beautiful book. Th relationship between the family member is both joyful and heartbreaking. It is so well written and deals with dementia in a beautiful way. Highly recommended.

Jack Penwick a country boy born and bred has been living in the City, shaken off his small town country living, became a workaholic city dweller and all that encapsulates. His world comes tumbling down when the company is sold. Jack goes into shock, he thought he was indispensable.
Jack at the same time as receiving his devastating news gets a phone call from his sister Charlotte, their mother has gone.

Jack is having a bad day, he loses his job that has absorbed every part of his life. He is having a crisis when he spots an injured fox who he helps rescue and who says Thank you to him and that is just the beginning of the story.

I loved Isaac and the Egg and the writing style of the author and this one is just as lyrical and beautiful. Told from the perspectives of Jack and his father’s Gerry who appears to be suffering from some kind of memory loss and also from the fox. On the same day that Jack gets laid off his sister Charlotte calls him to say their mother has gone missing. So Jack ends up at his parents house for the first time in many years and so we begin to unravel the dynamics of the family.

Jack and his father have never been close and Charlotte is angry with her brother for never being there.

Jack is having his own struggles, he is not sure if he is having a breakdown of his own or whether he has just lost his way completely.

Gerry is also having is own crisis although not entirely aware of the bigger picture. This is a rich tapestry of a book with so many threads to unpick and it’s so engaging and beautifully written.

The fox bridges the gap between the two in such an effortless way.

I became completely immersed in this wonderful story and like Isaac and the Egg will stay with me for a long time.

This was a different genre of book than what I normally read but I enjoyed it and would recommend it if you are looking for something different than your usual read!

Small hours was totally unexpected! The story was beautifully written and I was completely overwhelmed by the talking fox!
Having loved Bobby Palmers first book I was so excited to read this one and whilst it felt very different the charm and gentleness of which sensitive topics are discussed was there throughout.
I was in quite an emotional place when I read this and found the complicated family relationships to be honestly written and very believable.
All in all a wonderful book!

When he is suddenly made redundant, Jack Penwick is forced to reckon with the fact that the life to which he has devoted himself for years - making money and making himself indispensable at work - suddenly feels pointless. A strange encounter with a mange-ridden urban fox and an unexpected phone call from his younger sister, Charlotte, send Jack into a tailspin, and he soon finds himself back at the tumbledown cottage of his childhood, a place he has avoided for years, trying to figure out his place among his resentful sister, mysteriously absent mother and increasingly confused father.

Bobby Palmer's second novel is a beautiful, thought-provoking story which encourages the reader to pause, look around and reflect on what is important. Through Jack and his family, Palmer sensitively portrays a range of complex dynamics, and each member of the Penwick family is rendered with nuance and tenderness; as their stories unfolded, I found myself identifying and empathising with each of the four family members. While readers might not be able to identify with the specifics of the Penwicks' situation, the themes are common, if not, universal: the difficulty of bridging generation gaps, the legacy of trauma, losing your identity through parenthood or caring for a partner or parent, and the process of reconciling who you are with who you intended to be.

At the centre of the story, is the relationship between Jack and his father, Gerry. Once close, thanks to a shared love of nature, the two grew apart as Jack got older and introverted, softly-spoken Gerry found it harder to understand and communicate with his pragmatic, ambitious son. When Jack returns home, he finds Gerry suffering from dementia and cannot help but be frustrated by this man who can't remember why he is in the garden or even recognise his own son, but can still recall encyclopaedias worth of banal wildlife trivia. What follows is a moving exploration of the relationship between two men - both of whom have forgotten their family in different ways. Less space is afforded to some of the other intra-family relationships, such as those between Jack and Charlotte, Gerry and Charlotte, and Jack's mother, Hazel, and her two children, but these are still artfully realised and poignant. Gerry and Hazel's history and depth of connection is portrayed with warmth and humour, and theirs was the storyline which moved me to tears, so vivid was the depiction of their love and the impact of it on Hazel's life in particular.

The prose is lyrical, nearly poetic at times, painting scenes so evocative that I was totally immersed in them. Animal motifs abound - the lone fox, the barn owls, the sea eagle and the swallow - and I loved how Palmer deployed these with a light but deliberate touch, ensuring that his points could not be missed but not labouring them.

Thank you to NetGalley and Headline for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of this book.

I received a copy of this from Netgalley and the publisher Headline in return for an honest review.
Bobby Palmer writes with such beauty, it’s almost lyrical. I love the way he writes, which is what tipped me to a 4 star from a 3.5.
I think I was expecting to enjoy this more than I did, as I absolutely fell in love with Isaac and The Egg. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy it, I did, but the parts I loved the most were Gerry’s pov chapters. Again, I loved the way Bobby wrote from his pov, the words seemed to just flow across the pages (or screen in my case).
I remember early in in the book, thinking I don’t understand what’s going on here. But if you’ve read Isaac, you’ll know this is Bobby's style, and by the end it just all clicks into place.
I’ll definitely read more of Bobby’s work in the future, he writes like no one else I’ve ever read before.
Thanks again to Headline and Netgalkey for my arc, and thanks to Bobby Palmer for sharing his beautiful writing with us all

Isaac and the Egg was the saddest and most beautiful, haunting book I read in 2022, so I was both excited and nervous about reading Small Hours. Then two of my friends died, so I put it off a bit longer, scared it would be full of the same raw, heart-wrenching grief of Isaac and the Egg. And then, this week, I finally read Small Hours. Once again Bobby Palmer's exquisite writing had me enthralled from the first page. It's hard to tell, with this author, where magical realism stops and metaphors begin, or where metaphor stops and real human emotion takes over. This artfully woven tangle of feelings and humanity and family, and all the little ways we function or malfunction, once again took my breath away, brought tears to my eyes, and left me wondering what in the world Bobby Palmer will give us next.

Small Hours doesn't have the gut-wrenching, tear-streaming, all-consuming grief of Isaac (thank goodness!), but is just as beautifully-written, thought-provoking and emotional. Another must-read for anyone and everyone. Bobby Palmer has done it again.