“Once upon a time, before the boys were killed and when there were more cars than horses, before the male servants disappeared and they made do, at Upleigh and at Beechwood, with just a cook and a maid, the Sheringhams had owned not just four horses in their own stable, but what might be called a “real horse,” a racehorse, a thoroughbred. Its name was Fandango.” This small novel begins on the morning of “Mothering Sunday” which we learn (actually a few times in the […]

Last Orders is about a group of men tasked with taking their friend’s ashes to the seaside. Not a truly novel concept, but well executed through some quality storytelling and narrative focus. This novel has several different narrators, spans multiple timelines, and deals with the inner workings of the type of characters who could too easily play to type or be too guarded or closed off to see their emotional core.   The novel starts in a pub. Jack, the master butcher, has died. He […]