Seven Days of Us

October 30, 2017
Hornak’s smart, delightfully funny, page-turning debut takes a posh, dysfunctional British family—two parents, two adult daughters, each with a secret—slaps on a week’s worth of quarantine at Christmastime, and adds a dash of pathos as well as a large helping of humor. Do-gooder Olivia Birch is back from treating an Ebola-like epidemic in Liberia—hence the catalyst for the family quarantine—and doesn’t want anyone to know about her affair with one of her coworkers. Andrew, her father and a former Beirut war correspondent, has just received an email from Jesse Robinson, a son in the U.S. he never knew he had from a one-night stand in Lebanon years ago. Andrew’s wife, Emma, recently diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, is determined not to ruin Christmas by spilling the beans about her illness. Daughter Phoebe has just accepted a proposal from her swanky boyfriend, George, but she’s not sure she truly loves him. Jesse travels to the U.K. to meet his biological father and the ensuing coincidences, mishaps, arguments, and opportunities for self-reflection upend the Birch family relationships. As the story unfolds from various viewpoints, Hornak imbues each character with a singularity that underscores her spot-on insight about human nature.

The Birch family is quarantined by the return of Olivia, the oldest daughter, who has helped treat an epidemic abroad. They struggle to embrace being together for Christmas for the first time in years. Narrator Jilly Bond shows a great range in depicting the three female characters--Emma, the family matriarch, and sisters Olivia and Phoebe, each of whom has her own distinct cadence--as well as the three male characters, patriarch Andrew; George, Phoebe's fianc�; and a surprise visitor. Family tension is played out in pauses, raised voices, stammered dialogue, and shocked gasps, which are lightened by laughter that comes from the recollection of happier and easier times. Bond does a beautiful job narrating a heartwarming story. A.L.C. � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine