by PA O’Reilly

I’m pretty convinced that Paddy O’Reilly has lived this: her depiction of life as a single mum in a small-town backwater is hilariously and tragically spot-on (and I should know, I’ve lived it too). The highs and lows of life with kids will be all too familiar to many readers, but O’Reilly’s charm is to get us laughing about the small stuff – the inevitable daft mistakes and ridiculous situations of full-on, full time single parenthood. Exchange the heat and dust for wind and rain, and her tragi-comic setting in the forgotten town of Gunapan, Australia, could easily be somewhere equally God-forsaken in the UK, with a school facing closure and a dodgy development plan on the outskirts. Enriching the story are the loyal friendships of some well-drawn characters, and the ever-present hope of love. A great read.

©Julia Welstead 2011