The Son-in-Law

This book had me intrigued from the moment I first read the description on amazon. The story of a man, Joseph released from prison after serving 3 and a half years for the manslaughter of his wife Zoe and his struggle to build a relationship with the children who witnessed his crime. Having been utterly enthral led by the first Charity Norman book I read recently I knew to expect insightful and emotional writing based around a complex family dynamic.

From the outset we are left in no doubt that Joseph is guilty of the crime for which he was convicted, centralising the story around a moral dilemma in the reader in regards to how much forgiveness he should be granted. As he applies for access to his children we have to question whether we blame their grandparents for resisting every attempt he makes as he clearly killed their mother. It becomes clear quite early on though that there is more to this story than first appears and that nothing is ever just a simple story of black and white but that shades of grey are in abundance in the marriage of Joseph and his dead wife Zoe. When the big reveal did come though I must admit to being a little sceptical that actually the crime had been committed over something so seemingly small compared to the images I'd conjured up in my head.

The story is gripping and is told from the perspectives of Joseph, the grandmother Hannah and eldest daughter Scarlet who struggles in the role of go between. It is not their story's which touched me most but that of the grandfather Freddie who's health deteriorated throughout the book until we feel his greater need to reach peace at its conclusion. I cried buckets at the end of the book because of the beauty with which Norman wrote this character.

A wonderful book full of conflicting reader emotion and complex characters and a great read - Norman is fast becoming a firm favourite author.