Review: "The Dead Father's Club" by Matt Haig

Matt Haig’s wonderful take on Hamlet-meets-Patrick Ness’ A Monster Calls is an absolute delight to read – but be prepared to have your heart melted and broken and deliciously/masochistically destroyed in a variety of ways. It’s the tale of a young boy, son to a pub landlord who dies under suspicious circumstances, an anxious little chap struggling with the loss of his father while having to navigate the tricky seas of a dodgy uncle honing in on his mother and the inheritance… if that wasn’t enough, he speaks to the ghost of his father who demands revenge and thinks up plots to stop the union of Dodgy Uncle and Mum. It’s an incredible burden to place on a kid’s shoulders, and of course young Philip feels overwhelmed, but his sense of duty, love for his father and fear for his mother leave him little choice than to follow suit. In his young mind, it’d be betrayal to go against his parents’ will, but even more so, to deny his father’s last wish. More so, to have to save his father from a fate worse than death.

It’s an intense contradictory mix of the inner world of a grieving child, of loyalty, of bravery, of grief and of weights a child’s shoulder shouldn’t carry. Even the least maternal soul may well go all protective and parental on the young protagonist. And the twist in the outcome is just as unexpected as life’s turns itself.

Review: "The Last Family in England" by Matt Haig

Matt Haig has solidified himself among my go-to authors, especially when I need a dose of the profound, of something that affirms life without forgetting to validate its struggles.

There aren’t really any books so far I have read by him that disappointed me, although with How to Stop Time he has set himself a benchmark of genius that will be hard to beat.

The Last Family in England he wrote, as he said, after his breakdown – writing, I fully agree, is an incredible therapeutic tool – and he clearly poured the intensity of is experience at the time into this. It’s now being re-released, with a gorgeous new cover to match the design of his previous masterpiece.

It’s an unusual story, to be sure, narrated by the family dog, Prince, a Labrador, who is utterly devoted to his family. I adored the background story of a code of ethics, practiced by Labradors, but ignored for the sake of self-gratification by other breeds, to the point of ridicule.

Prince’s family is in trouble. It’s an accelerating clusterf**k of considerable proportions affecting and involving all family members, to the point of tragedy and utter heartbreak (without being soppy, oh I love how Matt Haig does it)… and poor Prince has tasked himself to what he considers his duty – keeping the family together and happy, consulting his mentor, another Lab, who patiently instructs him in all ways the code entails. But difficulties keep coming, and they even come from places Prince never expected.

I thought it a perfect parable on religion, on its function, appeal and failings – how you can follow instructions to the letter with the best intentions without being guaranteed a desired outcome… and how to come to terms with not having all the answers, with life not going your way, but that doing your best, even if it’s not enough, is sufficient.

While that sounds utterly depressing, it is actually liberating. Your heart will ache after reading this, but feel fuller and wiser, and perhaps even a little bit more prepared for it.

Lots of Pupper Love,

Patty