It's summertime in Magnolia Road in present day Chiswick, West London. In her early forties, PR manager Juliet is grieving the recent loss of her beloved mother to cancer. She and novelist husband, stay-at-home father, Leeds-born Liam and six year old Charlie, have just moved into her mother's old house. Charlie starts a new school and Liam begins to get to know the neighbours and parents of Charlie's classmates, potential fodder for his novel. Coffee mornings and post-school wine time soon reveal the flaws and worries of the Magnolia Road set. Juliet feels left out, worried Liam is becoming close with one of the mums, whose husband has just left her, but then an accident brings everything into sharp focus.

Astute and hopeful, this slice of domesticity in a middle class London suburb reminded me on some ways of novels by Liane Moriarty and Joanne Cannon for their focus on domestic life, but more character driven and intensely engaging. So much so that I read it in one day because I wanted to know more about the characters and their lives. Parenthood and marriage come under the microscope as their characters' relationships struggle or flourish with the pressure of parenting. Aside from a couple of events, little happens, but yet the atmosphere is weighted, set against tragedy, grief, joy, fear and hope. Emotional, insightful and powerful, this author's fictional debut is beautifully written and comes highly recommended.