Book of the month: July 2014

‘Life would be so much simpler if everyone just said what they meant,’ journalist Lynn Barber said to Psychologies this month.

The only problem with that would be a lack of good books: some of the best are based on terrible misunderstandings and Carys Bray’s Bradley family, grieving after the death of the youngest child, is a perfect example. We see inside everyone’s head – and discover they are all struggling, and all thinking nobody else could possibly understand.

Thankfully, as well as being miserable and misguided, the Bradleys are real and lovable – you won’t want to tear yourself away from their problems to return to your own.

When you do, you might do so with a measure of greater understanding about the things that keep a family going: humour and proper communication, for starters, both of which can be found here in abundance.

A Song For Issy Bradley by Carys Bray is published by Hutchinson, and costs £12.99