Book Review: ‘Nuclear Family’ by Kate Davies

As a huge fan of Kate Davies novel ‘In at the Deep End’, I was pleased to be granted a review copy of ‘Nuclear Family’ by NetGalley. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review – as always, opinions are entirely my own.

The book opens with Lena buying a DNA kit as a Christmas present for her dad (Tom) and her twin sister (Alison). She thinks it will be fun – plus there was an offer on the kits, so they’re a bargain! However, it forces Tom into the confession that Alison and Lena were conceived using a sperm donor – something that neither were really ready to find out in their thirties. Both respond very differently – but the impact on both is lasting as they reconsider their relationships, thoughts about having their own children and what it means to be family.

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‘Just Like You’ by Nick Hornby

Released this week – a new book from Nick Hornby is always an event in my diary!

I feel like I should declare my love of Nick Hornby books at the start of this review – I usually love the dialogue and the insight into people and the humour of Hornby’s writing. Indeed, ‘High Fidelity’ is up there with my absolute favourite novels and I think I’ve read pretty much all his work.

This book had so much promise – essentially an age gap romance between a 42 year-old white woman (Lucy) and a 22 year-old black man (Joseph) set against the Brexit referendum. There’s loads of scope for exploration of people’s attitudes to race, class, age, 21st century British society…so far, so good!

And indeed, a lot of this is delivered upon very well by Hornby – he perfectly captures, for example, the rage caused by Brexit on both sides of the Leave/Remain debate. Lucy’s job as a teacher also struck a chord with me as reflecting my own life.

However, it’s not a perfect novel. While it’s enjoyable and interesting, it doesn’t quite hit the spot for a romance as it’s too messy and makes you wonder what the appeal is in the relationship, especially for Lucy who tolerates some pretty poor behaviour from Joseph. It felt a bit more like social commentary than a fully absorbing novel in places.

Overall, I would say this is an engaging and light read with some interesting points about British culture in the age of Brexit and Black Lives Matter. Whether it works as a romance is more up for debate – it didn’t for me. If you like Hornby’s writing (as I do) then you’ll probably like this, but for everyone else then I’d start with ‘High Fidelity’ or ‘About a Boy’ as Hornby’s real masterpieces.

I received a free copy of the novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

You can buy this book using the link below – I may earn commission on purchases at no extra cost to you.

Header photo with thanks to Jude Beck for sharing their work on Unsplash.