Compared to Lewycka's previous two novels this one did disappoint. It also rambled, scratched just the surface of more interesting issues and threw out improbable plot scenarios (I'm not talking about Mrs Sharpiro but rather the queue of hunky North London estate agents). In short, it didn't really do the author's reputation any justice. I'm not about to dig deeper to understand the reason why, and at any rate I kept reading because it was easy to do so... I just didn't feel guilty when I skipped great chunks.

If you like charming-enough, easy to get through if a little predictable middle-aged break-up/make-up stories, this is for you.

If you like what Lewycka has already proved herself a master at in [b:Two Caravans|1740908|Two Caravans|Marina Lewycka|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1187640835s/1740908.jpg|2086107] and [b:A Short History of Ukrainian Tractors|828387|A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian|Marina Lewycka|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327935785s/828387.jpg|4240781], which are stories about people who are displaced, put upon, who should be despondent but are instead little heroes in their own right, then maybe pretend this didn't happen.