MARK HADDON A Spot of Bother ****

I wasn't sure about this book to start with, but ended up loving it.

It's a great black comedy with characters you care about.

It's obvious that Mark Haddon is experienced as a screenwriter and it would make a wonderful film or better still TV serial. The chapters, some as short as half a page, are more like scenes in a screenplay. Each one is told from the point of view of one of the four main characters.

George is recently retired and lacking any purpose in life. When he discovers a lesion on his thigh he's convinced it's cancer, which triggers a nervous breakdown.

Jean, George's wife, is having an affair with a former colleague of George's.

Katie, their daughter, is about to marry for the second time. The trouble is, she's not certain she really loves Ray, although he is very good with her son, Jacob. Her parents aren't at all sure about him, because (although nobody would say so) he's a bit too working class.

Jamie, their son, is gay and is in the process of ruining the relationship he really wants.

The whole thing builds to a very funny life-affirming conclusion.