An addictive father/stepson relationship tale where each badly needs the other when the lover/mother disappears. Fighting the various authorities, the boy’s natural father and all sorts of complicated emotions, it is a highly sensitive, deeply affecting gem. Its simplicity in style and delivery add to the poignancy. Comparison: Nick Hornby, Tony Parsons, Claire Calman. Similar this month: William Sutcliffe, Jonathan Tropper.
Gregory, Caitlin and Tomas are just your average dysfunctional family. Tomas is Caitlin's little boy from a previous - and abusive - relationship, and since Gregory found out he can't have kids, he's thinking that this is what he wants. And then Caitlin vanishes. No one knows where she's gone, no one is able to find her and Gregory is left to look after Tomas alone. That's until teachers, social workers, the police and even Tomas's violent father, turn up and try to and take the boy away. But Tomas is all that Gregory's got left, just as Gregory is the only hope Tomas has of ever finding his mother. Leaving Gregory asking himself the question: is this fate - or an accident waiting to happen?
Adrian White is an English writer who has lived in Ireland for over twenty-five years. His first novel, An Accident Waiting to Happen, was published in print by Penguin Books - as was his second novel, Where the Rain Gets In. Both are now available again in print and in digital. His third novel, Dancing to the End of Love is published by Black & White Publishing of Edinburgh.
