When Barry finally resolves to tell his wife Carmel that after 50 years of marriage, he's ready for a divorce so he can truly be himself - a gay man who has been in a secret relationship with his best friend since they were teenagers - he has a lot of things to think about. Can he truly be brave enough to risk everything and be out and proud?

This was a sweet book with a lot of funny moments in it, as well as some fantastic moments fo reflection. Barry is definitely a a character and a half, and he's someone if you'd met on the street and had a 5 minute chat, you'd still remember him years later. Definitely one of a kind. There were moments in this book when I loved him and cheered him on as he finally stood up and declared his love for Morris, and there were other times he made me cringe as he revealed his old-fashioned, misogynistic views. There were times his view points were actually quite funny but also so problematic at the same time.

I also really loved Carmel's POV in this as it's such an important one to have. While Barry has lived a life of fear because of his sexuality, he had great moments of love and a one true romance and one of a kind love. Carmel led a life of disappointment and loneliness and I do understand some of the things she feels, as she definitely was not treated right at all. I do think Carmel and Barry had a fairly horrid family altogether between Donna and Daniel (could not even imagine letting people into my grandad's house and them smashing my granny's things. The actual horror of it!), and while Maxine was okay, she was still a 40-year-old woman getting hand outs from her OAP dad.

The atmosphere and humour in this sold it to me for sure though it wasn't quite the engrossing, completely heart-warming read that I thought it would be.