This Family Life by Jon Rance
Publisher:
Release Date: 30th June 2014
Buy: Kindle
Rating:
Things that might happen during your first year of parenthood:
1. You’ll get covered in a ‘nuclear’ poo.
2. You’ll be convinced your son is talking with a Japanese accent.
3. You’ll worry that when your son waves, it looks like a Nazi salute.
Of course, this might just be Harry Spencer.
Taking up where This Thirtysomething Life left off, Harry Spencer and is wife Emily are back and trying to survive their first year of parenthood. It has its ups and downs (and a few bits in the middle), but along the way they begin to understand the true meaning of family and what it takes to be a parent.
Featuring a hilarious cast of extras including Harry’s father-in-law Derek, who has a unique problem with Scotch, Steve and Fiona, the parents from children’s entertainment hell, and a yoga instructor with a prominent camel-toe, This Family Life is the ultimate comedy for anyone who is a parent, has a parent, or is thinking about becoming one.
This Family Life is the follow up to This Thirtysomething Life as it follows Harry and Emily Spencer through the ups and downs of the first year of parenthood. They have to deal with wayward parents, perverted neighbours, 10k runs, heartbreak and once again, Deirdre St Cloud…
This Thirtysomething Life was one of my favourite books that I’ve read so far in 2014. It was so different to the normal kind of novels I read, being told from the male perspective and I loved how it was absolutely hilarious (I’m talking a-laugh-a-page kind of funny) with plenty of genuinely heart warming moments thrown in too and This Family Life, I’m pleased to say, is more of the same!
I loved This Family Life so much & now Harry and his hilarious ramblings are no longer in my life I seriously miss them.
I loved how he adapted to being a father and reading about the small things that he struggled with and just watching him come to terms with his new life in his own unique way. As Harry discovers that he can no longer stay up until midnight without falling asleep, he still hates the staff vs. pupil’s football match at school and he also hates attending pre-meeting meetings… however he is still pretty good at Monopoly…(ahem, let’s not go there).
All of the fantastic characters in this story really bring it to life. They are all so unique, funny and loveable in their own way. I wouldn’t know where to start with who I liked best as I enjoyed reading about all of them and seeing how their relationship with Harry changed as his life did. For example Steve, Fiona and all of the J’s. Although Harry wasn’t their biggest fan in This Thirtysomething Life, as he becomes a parent himself he starts to see that they’re not so bad after all (which is a good job as they soon move in next door…OMG as Steve would say.) I liked them much better this time round too and Steve’s venture into children’s entertainment makes for some hiccup-inducing moments. Although they weren’t featured as much I also really liked Katie’s Australian parents too and of course I loved both Harry and Emily’s parents. As outrageous as they are there’s also some really touching scenes when Harry’s Mum discovers she has cancer. This Family Life is written in such a way that you can go from laughing your socks off on one page to then blubbing away the next moment.
Jon Rance in an author I’m so pleased I have discovered. I literally can’t wait to download the prequel to This Thirtysomething Life, This Twentysomething Life, from Amazon to find out what happened in the run up to Harry and Emily’s Wedding (something tells me it won’t go smoothly?) A hugely talented author, Jon Rance is now up there with my top male authors for this genre. This Family Life is such an easy read, being written in diary form which is a format I really love reading, it’s the perfect novel to put a smile on your face and you will genuinely care about the characters. I think a lot of readers, male and female will be nodding their heads in recognition once again with this novel. It’ll appeal to everyone and is a fantastic insight into the male psyche. I’m anticipating reading the next instalment in Harry and Emily’s lives…
Jon Rance is the author of two previous novels, This Thirtysomething Life, which became a top ten Kindle best seller, and Happy Endings, which was published by Hodder & Stoughton. Jon is represented by Ariella Feiner at United Agents.
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