About this item
#1 LibraryReads PickA warm, wry, sharply observed debut novel about what happens when a family is forced to spend a week together in quarantine over the holidays...It's Christmas, and for the first time in years the entire Birch family will be under one roof. Even Emma and Andrew's elder daughter - who is usually off saving the world - will be joining them at Weyfield Hall, their aging country estate. But Olivia, a doctor, is only coming home because she has to. Having just returned from treating an epidemic abroad, she's been told she must stay in quarantine for a week ... and so too should her family. For the next seven days, the Birches are locked down, cut off from the rest of humanity - and even decent Wi-Fi - and forced into each other's orbits. Younger, unabashedly frivolous daughter Phoebe is fixated on her upcoming wedding, while Olivia deals with the culture shock of being immersed in first-world problems. As Andrew sequesters himself in his study writing scathing restaurant reviews and remembering his glory days as a war correspondent, Emma hides a secret that will turn the whole family upside down. In close proximity, not much can stay hidden for long, and as revelations and long-held tensions come to light, nothing is more shocking than the unexpected guest who's about to arrive ...
About the Author
Francesca Hornak is a British author, journalist and former columnist for the Sunday Times. Her debut novel Seven Days Of Us (Penguin Random House) was longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize and has been sold in fourteen countries. Little Island Productions and Entertainment One have TV rights to the book. Francesca's work has appeared in newspapers and magazines including The Sunday Times, The Economist, The Financial Times, The Guardian, ES Magazine, Elle, Red and Marie Claire. She is the author of two nonfiction books, History of the World in 100 Modern Objects: Middle Class Stuff (and Nonsense) and Worry with Mother. Follow her on Twitter at @FrancescaHornak
