This Holey Life by Sophie Duffy

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I felt very ‘at home’ with this book; a story about the complexities of familial relationships is not easy but Sophie Duffy seems to have got it just about right with a combination of amusing insights into family life and the not so amusing stuff that makes you grind your teeth and bite your tongue!
Vicky has a lot of ‘stuff’ to grind her teeth about. Her husband, Steve, despite not being religious previously has ‘seen the light’ and has become a curate, a difficult enough transition for Vicky, who now has the role of curate’s wife to add to those other important roles: being mum to three young daughters, supportive wife, daughter and teacher, without adding more complications in the way of her brother and nephew turning up on her doorstep on Christmas Day looking for refuge. What’s a good curate’s wife supposed to do?
So, Vicky has to become surrogate mother to Jeremy and marriage counsellor to her brother Martin. Meanwhile, what about Vicky’s needs?
Vicky, coping with her own bereavement, her husband’s newfound religion and her brother’s marriage breakup tells things in an honest and open way. As she reminisces about her childhood with the perfect brother who could do no wrong, she hints at the gaping black hole in her life whilst hiding her pain with frenzied bouts of cleaning.
This is a heartfelt story about family life and secrets. There is lots of humour, some of it dark, some very familiar; bickering with big brother, quirky children, sulky children, sibling rivalry, jealousy, it’s all there and I enjoyed it for the most part because a lot of it is about things I could relate to. Vicky perhaps is more tolerant than a lot of people but she is not perfect and I particularly love how she, like many others with annoying big brothers, is quite happy, at least for a while, for him to be the not-so-perfect one. There are also quite poignant episodes where despite her doing the very best she can she still feels like a failure, a feeling that is very real and very relateable to most people. Her ‘Thoughts for the Day’ are also thoughts that everybody has had or will have at some point in their life and for me made her a likable and sympathetic character, a little bit of a pushover at times but really someone fumbling their way through a busy life strewn with upheaval in the best way they can.
As for the other characters, I personally liked the daughters, Rachel, the eldest is a sensible child with her head screwed on, Olivia, the precocious three year old reminded me of my own daughter and definitely is not portrayed as too old for her years – believe me, there are children like that out there! They had their own takes on life which gave them their own personalities within the book. I could imagine the Curate Steve, naive and ever hopeful and even though I thought Martin was an obnoxious oaf, he was portrayed so realistically that is speaks volumes for Sophie Duffy’s writing, she really has brought to life her characters.
All in all I very much enjoyed this book; it made me laugh even whilst it acknowledged that life can be a struggle but did so without being preachy, definitely a joy to read.
With thanks to Netgalley and Legend Press for the ARC of this book.