There is a heatwave across Europe. Goose and his three sisters gather at the family’s house by Lake Orta, in Piedmont, the tiny island of Northern Italy,  in the wake of their artist father’s  sudden death. The accidental drowning is further complicated byhis recent and hasty marriage to the elusive Bella-Mae and the absence of both a will and his much talked-of work in progress, the painting is missing. The agonising struggle to find a place for grief in an already fragile network of intimate relationships. Although the siblings have always been close, as they search for answers over that summer, the things they learn about themselves, their father and their new stepmother- will drive them apart before they can come to any kind of understanding of what their father’s legacy truly is.

Bozzy Neeta, who stood in as a mother when theirs died prematurely, fretful Susan, locked into marriage with a father figure as kind as her real dad is careless, unworldly younger children Gustav and Iris, each given to flights both fanciful and actual.  Joyce captures their closeness and estrangement with impressive fleetness and sympathy.

Rachel Joyce’s The Homemade God is  shrewd and addictive with insight and empathy.

The Homemade God by Rachel Joyce, Penguin Audio (12 hrs 43 mins)