This book explores themes familiar in literature - sibling closeness, alcoholism, mental illness and shoddy parenting - but it has a highly original feel, mainly down to its constant inventiveness, and the brisk way in which the story is told. The author cleverly selects only the interesting elements of her characters' lives, and discards the mundane. The writing is lively and frequently humorous (the incident with the police and the furry pig was a particular case in point). I was keen to know what would happen, and you can't ask for much more.

If there was a bum note, I would say that the constant reminders, in between events, of the reasons behind the characters' actions (it's all down to their upbringing etc etc) and the gazing at eachother's navels occasionally felt overly didactic, which is not to say that it was badly written.

Oh, and the section where two pre-school children are sent unaccompanied on a bus gave me a bit of a jolt. Is this legal in Canada? I'd be tempted not to try it all the same. ( )

This is a very dark, depressing book, but it is well-written and a quick read. The character of Blue, in particular, is unforgettable. ( )

The novel explores much of the same territory as Mouthing the Words, centering on a dysfuncional family, an abusive father, a withdrawn mother, and the ensuing psychological after-shocks in adulthood.

Twins Emma and Blue are so close that they communicate in an invented language and are almost telepathic. They huddle in the basement from the rages of their unpredictable father, who drops out of paid work to become an inventor - gradually withdrawing from the family to live a reclusive existance in the garage, until one day he disappears, taking with him the family's life savings.

Although Gibb never uses the term the father is clearly manic-depressive - his moods swing unpredicatabley, he's full of grandiose schemes and ambitions to change the world (and scorn for those who lack the same vision), yet unable to complete even the simplest of tasks.

The twins react differently to their father's disappearance - Blue becoming obsessed with finding him, while Emma defects to a new family and sees academic success as her ticket out of chaos, while their mother Elaine numbs the pain with alchohol and anti-depressants and becomes increasingly withdraw.

Again, as in Mouthing the Words, Gibb handles painful material (and I must ask her how much is drawn from her own life) but the book never feels heavy, and is tempered with humour and people with characters you care about.

Highly recommended. (I like it even better than Mouthing the Words.) ( )