The tyrannical Edward, raging against the indignities of old age, and Elizabeth, his charming and forgiving wife, await the arrival of their children: Jason, a suave analyst who privately seethes with hatred for his father; Victoria, perpetually caught in an adolescence various institutions have been unable to unlock, and Emily, a concern violinist who skips continents rather than face stability, and who is bringing her young son to see his grandfather for the first time. The scene is set for their anniversary reunion.
Here Janette Turner Hospital unravels the skeins of family life - its hostilities, explosive secrets and its constricting yet enduring love. The result is one of the most haunting and assured explorations of the family in contemporary fiction.

One of the most elegant prose styles in the business * The Times *
This family is familiar, damn familiar... finally you have to break down, realise it's probably your own family Janette Turner Hospital is writing about * Los Angeles Times *