What a sad, sad novel. It took me while to get into this book and appreciate the sensitivity and empathy that the author portrayed in her writing. The starting point is the Grenfell Tower’s destruction by fire. Rubi, a teenage girl with mixed race parents, is at the centre of this story; a bit of a misfit who was bullied at school for being fat and different from the other pupils. The back story is the depressing scenes remembered by her grandfather at the time of the troubles ensuing the Partition of India and Pakistan and the loss of family members. As we progress through the novel, Rubi matures and develops a closer relationship with her grandfather by default when her parents make an urgent visit to Spain at the death of her English grandmother. Yusuf, Rubi’s grandfather, relives his experiences of Partition and the death of his youngest brother Ali, whilst dementia takes hold.

A heartbreaking , emotional rollercoaster of a read, beautifully written. My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers HarperCollins for this advance copy.

Sairish Hussain does it again with this complicated story of a grandfather and granddaughter stuck by circumstances who try and get to know each other again.

Each has secrets that finally come out over the course of their time together.

Like her previous book, The Family Tree it’s multi POV so you see things from Rubi, her grandfather and her dad’s POV which makes it multi layered.

Against the background of the Grenfell tower tragedy and exploring the horrors of partition this is a must read book.

An exquisite book exploring the secrets, vulnerabilities and tremendous bonds between three generations of family. It is so hard to put in to words how this book made me feel, it is equally heartbreaking and heartwarming, such harrowing experiences and uplifting moments of love. It delves deep into the complexities of the human experience, how outwardly we can appear one thing yet hidden beneath the surface so much else is simmering away.; our rituals, careers, responsibilities and hobbies are all distractions from the painful truths we struggle to face. The writing is fantastic and, as with her debut novel, Sairish Hussain wonderfully delivers so much of her characters effortlessly on to the pages so we feel we know them implicitly and experiencing it all alongside them. Nothing is idealised, it is raw, real and so perfectly imperfect. Rubi and Yusuf are up there as my favourite characters of this year's reads.