A review by ecclescake
The Best Things by Mel Giedroyc

3.0

The Parker family members are all a bit of a nightmare. They’ve surrounded themselves with nightmare staff, too – at least from Sally’s point of view. The poor woman has surrendered control of her home and family to their housekeeper and nanny, who have no respect for her and take advantage of her ineffectuality. Or rather she has had control taken from her hands by her well-meaning husband, who wants her to be a cossetted wife who need only concern herself with being the perfect hostess of the extravagant social/business events he loves to hold in their stunning Surrey home. I became a little irritated by all the “Sally made a mental note to…” which came fast and furious, but I feel this was intentional to emphasise Sally’s desire to get to grips with the issues in her home and family while never actually getting round to following up on her mental notes.

Despite their “nightmarey-ness”, I became rather fond of Frank and Sally, the turning point coming when we were told the back story of when they met and fell in love as teenagers. In fact, I became fond of all the family, despite their infuriating characteristics. The catastrophe that befalls the family offers a re-set for them all and I was cheering them on for a better future.

As for the humour, there are some cracking lines, although I chuckled, rather than LOL’d.