Reasonable People By Caroline Hulse

‘Reasonable People’ is the latest book by Caroline Hulse.

After a kid’s party faux-pas, mother Janine anonymously vents about her father-in-law’s behaviour on internet forum Am I The Villain Here? When the community is invited to take sides the post goes viral, with mild-mannered Roy ending up in the national newspapers and sparking protests at his local library.

If you like stories about dysfunctional families, then this is the book for you, packed with humour, drama and internet trolls I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Janine has just been made redundant, her house has been sold and the only place that is available to live in is with her father in law. Roy is a kind man with a big heart, but he keeps putting his foot in it particularly when he organises a princess party instead of a pirate party for Katie his grand daughter who’s distraught at the change of plans which leads Janine leaves an anonymous comment on a website asking if she’s the villain for being angry with Roy for changing the party theme and over the next few days, a poll counts who’s the villain but it all becomes out of control when Roy is no longer anonymous and founds himself the centre of a witch hunt. Whilst Roy’s son Phil and partner of Janine just wants a quiet life and not to be involved.

I loved this story, it’s fun, witty and with such a bright and vibrant cover, it really stands out. The characters are a great mix of personalities but I really did find myself loving Roy in particular, he has a generous spirit and is still grieving for Lynn, his wife who always kept him right. He has a literal way of approaching life which does sometimes get him in trouble. Janine is outspoken, opinionated and does clash with Roy. With losing her job and her home, she feels like a failure and it’s hard at times reading as she struggles to make amends for herself and Katie.

I particularly loved the extracts from the website with people offering opinions on Janine’s predicament, some agreeing with her and others accusing her of being too harsh.

An upbeat and relatable story about family drama and dynamics , ‘Reasonable People’ is a story about testing limits and new beginnings.

You can buy ‘Reasonable People’ from Amazon and is available to buy from good bookshops.