There, as a lonely young mother, she meets Phil, an older lady who has raised her own family but is mired in grief following the death of her husband. Meg Mason has infused her domestic drama with humour, charm and a sense of longing that lingers well beyond the final pages…it’s hard to believe this assured work is a debut novel. In the end though, I really admired Abi for what she had gone through and her ability to try to correct her mistakes. Rarely have the excoriating effects of mental illness been articulated quite so beautifully – as heartbreaking as it’s funny.

It’s incredibly frustrating to not be able to understand what I love so much about her writing, since I want give a review that does this special and unique book justice. She has written humour for Sunday STYLE, The New Yorker's Daily Shouts and a monthly column for GQ and been a regular contributor to Vogue, ELLE and marie claire. This is her first novel originally published in 2017 and though not as good (I thought) as Sorrow and Bliss, it’s still a lovely read. Polly was instrumental in overreacting (or possibly not) about Abi’s presence in Phil’s life and Freddie was essential in mucking things up for Abi again. After falling pregnant from her Australian Erasmus boyfriend she moves to Sydney looking forward to start a new life.

I remember walking for hours with my first-born asleep in the pram, just to get out of the house and talk to other grown-up people. Much like the narrator of ELEANOR OLIPHANT IS COMPLETELY FINE Martha's voice is acerbic, witty, and raw. There were a few unlikeable dysfunctional characters which were well imagined but the ending was a bit too conveniently tidy.

Sometime laugh-out-loud funny, other times sad, this was a warm, insightful, bittersweet and very poignant book about families that I cannot recommend highly enough.

There are too few of these types of books around, where you get sucked so deeply into the story that you wish it would never end. I plan to make listening to the episode about special occasions, and why they can be so challenging, a Christmas tradition.