Seven Days of Us
Ratings10
Average rating3.5
"A warm, wry, sharply observed debut novel about what happens when a family is forced to spend a week together in quarantine over the holidays... It's Christmas, and for the first time in years the entire Birch family will be under one roof. Even Emma and Andrew's elder daughter--who is usually off saving the world--will be joining them at Weyfield Hall, their aging country estate. But Olivia, a doctor, is only coming home because she has to. Having just returned from treating an epidemic abroad, she's been told she must stay in quarantine for a week...and so too should her family. For the next seven days, the Birches are locked down, cut off from the rest of humanity--and even decent Wi-FI--and forced into each other's orbits. Younger, unabashedly frivolous daughter Phoebe is fixated on her upcoming wedding, while Olivia deals with the culture shock of being immersed in first-world problems. As Andrew sequesters himself in his study writing scathing restaurant reviews and remembering his glory days as a war correspondent, Emma hides a secret that will turn the whole family upside down. In close proximity, not much can stay hidden for long, and as revelations and long-held tensions come to light, nothing is more shocking than the unexpected guest who's about to arrive..."--
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A really good story. The Birch Family (mom/dad/adult daughters Olivia and Phoebe) retire to their country estate to spend the week between Christmas and the New Year. They are actually quarantined there as Olivia as just returned from working in Monrovia as an M.D. treating patients of HAAG, a dangerous, communicable ebola like illness. Olivia has made a point of avoiding family holidays for years so you already know the week will be a trying one. And, in the midst of the immediate family dynamics, there are 3 other characters added to the mix: Phoebe's fiance George, Olivia's love interest Sean, and another guy named Jesse. It is a thoughtful book about relationships and family dynamics, with a bit of comic relief. I found my feelings for the characters changing as I got deeper into the book. The characters all had reason to reassess the meaning of their lives and discover that they can have a hand in how they choose to live. I think it would be a great read for a book club. I particularly enjoyed the book as it made me reflect on my own familial dysfunction and I compared the characters to my own family. It struck me that we often base our opinion of someone from our initial contact (in the case of an acquaintance) or how we interacted with someone (parent, sibling, etc.) during our formative years. The key is formative years and I think we do ourselves a disservice by not being able to see that we all change as we age and we need to be open to changes in our own family as well as our fellow man.
4.5/5 stars
“Only the most extraordinary circumstances can reunite the Birch Family for the holidays...”
The British Birch Family will be together, quarantined for 7 days, as the eldest daughter, Olivia has just returned from treating an epidemic in Liberia. Over the course of the week we experience the twists and turns of dysfunctional family relationships, awash with secrets, jealousies, misunderstandings, but also with humor and love.
Hornak's character development and dialogue kept me turning the pages. Looking forward to her next work of fiction!
I almost DNF'd this book in the first 20%, but I put it down for a bit, read another book, and came back to it. For some reason, I liked it so much more after that. I found it smartly funny at times, even laugh out loud, though it was also a bit dramatic at other times. Ultimately I found the characters interesting and their rich people drama was fun to spy on. It wasn't very surprising, but that didn't hinder my enjoyment. I think it might be more of a 3-star book, but the humor and family drama were quite enjoyable for me.
