Mother Mother: A poignant journey of friendship and forgiveness

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Mary’s mum died when she was a baby, and since then her brother Sean’s always looked out for her as their father spends most of his time down the pub. I learned that my happy conviction in being a Londoner was conditional on regular pitstops to Dublin, to visit my family. The dialogue in this feels so real, witty and funny that it feels like you’re reading a script from a BAFTA winning telly show.

Neema, who eventually becomes angry with her friend, had advised her to play it cool but Orla is unable to contain herself. In Orla Quinn’s case, she found herself on a very precarious ledge, living a blurred existence caught up in a spiral of coke, pills and the thrum of the music. A powerful coming of age novel and an intimate family study, Mother Mother examines the cost of unconditional love.The correlation with Orla's Da and what I also experienced in my mid-20s was very well written and I felt all the emotions in my core. That being said the characterisation fell flat and I couldn't much empathize with the book's protagonist. I related to the experience of working in a pub, which I did for most of my teenage years, and how it feels so cosy and time is suspended there, and you find yourself becoming friends with a lot of people you'd never talk to outside. With Irish family and my parents being from North London, it felt relatively easy for me to relate to and dive into the narrative. I have learned that my sons need time to wrestle and chase each other around the kitchen after dinner.

London is the epicentre to get into music, technology is still at stage of non-smart phones and the internet has survived the millennium bug. This is a well-written novel, perceptive about the music business and the fleeting connections made at the after parties of gigs.The main strength of this book is the music references (as is to be expected given the author’s background), and there is a lot to be said for stories that show the drudgery of life and don’t gloss over the badness too much. For as long as they could remember, I had left the house at about 5pm every weekday evening to go to my radio show, and I had worked late DJing on the weekends. There isn’t too much of a plot, it’s just a nice story following Orla as she learns to live in London and away from her family who are in Dublin. Yet as the hype around the band intensifies, so does the hedonism, and relationships in the house are growing strained. In an interview, the mother-of-two, whose youngest child is starting school in September, explained the lockdown had given them new insight and they decided they wanted a change from the 'chaos' of their busy schedules.

I was first attracted by this book as I was about the same age as the character Orla in 2002, and did hang out with musicians, barmen. And Annie Mac looked radiant in an all-green pant suit for the launch of her debut novel Mother Mother just hours after she appeared on the One Show discussing her reasons for saying goodbye to her popular show. Ashley Park shares a hug with Emily In Paris star Lily Collins as she is 'recovering and resting in Paris'.Revealed: Volunteer police officer who told Christian singer that she is 'not allowed' to perform 'church.