OTHER PEOPLE'S CHILDREN

This is a wonderful story captured through the eyes of Tommaso, a frazzled youngish man coping with the complex yet everyday struggles of family life with its different dynamics and extended loved ones. When something snaps, he discovers an impulsive need to dig deeper into his past to seek out the truth.

The story begins as Tommaso (Tom) has just returned from several weeks working in Mongolia where he had been commissioned to write a report on children’s education. The depravity of the situation has clearly left an impact on him which he is struggling to reconcile. Back in London, he lives in a cramped flat with his partner Madeleine and her two sons, Seb and Luc. Due to being away so often, his role as step-dad is not as rewarding as he would like it to be.

Tom is also responsible for his 90 year old Italian grandmother Alma, who lives in a sprawling wayward top floor apartment full of cuttings, plants, papers, books and general memorabilia. Alma’s behaviour has taken an erratic turn for the worse and she has announced she won’t leave her top floor apartment in London ever again. Daily becoming weaker and more confused, she starts giving everything away to her neighbour and thinking someone is trying to break into her apartment. She inevitably has a fall with the unintended consequences that Tom, Madeleine, Seb and Luc are forced to move in to care for her. Madeleine finds the situation desperate, claustrophobic and too unreliable for her sons. Her sons however quickly warm to Alma with her interesting tales from her past about the war and her dead husband.

Alma’s seemingly ever more eccentric and precarious lifestyle causes a drift in the relationship between Tom and Madeleine. Added to this, Madeleine’s ex Gabriel has emerged on the scene and has started to see the boys to the exclusion of Tom. As Tom reflects on his current chaos and unusual up-bringing, he makes it his mission to travel to Italy to discover the truth.

The story starts off slowly, as the reader gets to know the characters. Faccini brilliantly exposes how families are pulled in different directions and in heated moments say things they regret. The pace picks up in the second half of the book and the final reveal will make you want to re-assess the characters Faccini carefully allowed you to get to know.

Den tip – there are several books with this same title so if you recommend this as a read for your book club make sure you are all reading the same one!