A review by thereadingparamedic
Small Hours by Bobby Palmer

adventurous emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Small Hours tells the story of a family who seem to have lost their way. 

Jack left his family home for the city and has recently been made redundant. Whilst wandering and wondering what to do with himself, he comes across an injured fox. Not long after, he receives a phone call from his sister, Charlotte, to tell him their mother is missing and can he come back to the family home to help find her.

On his return, Jack finds his father, Gerry, suffering with memory problems and he begins to realise his move to the city has made him lose touch with his family. Gerry knows his wife, Hazel, mentioned something about going away but he can't remember where she said he was going. Charlotte seems forever short-tempered and Jack feels he's the only one who can put the family back together. But, wait, he seems to hear a fox talking to him...

Small Hours is a lovely book, not just about family, but about nature too. It brings to the fore a lot of what can sometimes pass us by with our busy lives and we end up losing focus on what is important. Whenever this happens to me, nature is often what I turn to for a reset and refocus, and I loved that Small Hours made me think about the small stuff. I also listened to it on audio and it was great to have the nature focus whilst out on a walk.

I had high hopes for Small Hours as I absolutely loved Isaac and the Egg, and it didn't disappoint. It was fabulously narrated on audio by Stephen Mangan. Bobby Palmer writes character so well, and captures perfectly how it feels to be disillusioned with the world.