Seven Days of Us: A Novel

by Francesca Hornak

A family can’t escape their secrets when they’re forced to spend a week in quarantine in this “sharply funny” (People) novel—an Indie Next and #1 Library Reads Pick!

It's Christmas, and for the first time in years the entire Birch family will be under one roof. Even Emma and Andrew's elder daughter—who is usually off saving the world—will be joining them at Weyfield Hall. But Olivia, a doctor, is only coming home because she has to. She's just returned from treating an epidemic abroad and has been told she must stay in quarantine for a week...and so too should her family.

For the next seven days, the Birches are locked down, cut off from the rest of humanity, and forced into each other's orbits. Younger, unabashedly frivolous daughter Phoebe is fixated on her upcoming wedding, while Olivia deals with the culture shock of first-world problems.

As Andrew sequesters himself in his study writing scathing restaurant reviews and remembering his glory days as a war correspondent, Emma hides a secret that will turn the whole family upside down.

In close proximity, not much can stay hidden for long, and as revelations and long-held tensions come to light, nothing is more shocking than the unexpected guest who's about to arrive....

• ISBN10: 0525524509
• ISBN13: 9780525524502
• Publish Date: 17 October 2017
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Diversified Publishing
• Imprint: Random House Large Print
• Edition: Large type / large print edition
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 464
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780525524502

Reviews

[readingwithwrin]

Emma and Andrew the patriarchs of the family are excited for the family to all be back together for the first time in years for the holidays. The one downside they will all be quarantined together in one house for a week in order to make sure daughter Olivia doesn't infect anyone with a disease she has been helping treat in Africa.





The quarantine wouldn't be a problem, but in recent years this family has been drifting apart in a sense. They all have been keeping secrets from one another and there is definitely a divide in the family over who is close and who is just plain icy towards one another. Will this week bring them closer together or break them farther apart? Or maybe both?



Overall I did enjoy this book. Getting to see this story from each different family members perspective was really nice and helped the story grow in a way that felt like I was really watching a movie or tv show play out in my head that shows a family over the holidays.

I loved seeing things the most from Olivia and a mystery person that you will just have to wait to meet.

I found myself really getting annoyed with Andrew and Phoebe. Andrew was the typical jerkish food critic reporter that never seems to be happy. Phoebe is someone that is smart, yet doesn't use that and instead settles for less and to marry rich in order to fit into a type of mold she seems to think should be filled.

Emma is a character that I really loved. She reminds me so much of other moms who have given up a lot in order to have a family.



The main driving force behind this book is also the secrets that the family has kept from one another and how they are now all coming out throughout the week. From small little misunderstandings to big secrets that will have life-changing consequences for all of them there was never a dull moment while reading this book.



I do think everyone will be able to relate and love at least one character in this book and I can't wait to read something else by this author.

[kimbacaffeinate]

Caffeinated Aspects:

• The Birches have long spent their holidays at Weyfield Hall an aging country estate where Mrs. Birches tries to recapture the idyllic holidays of her youth. The children are grown now, and Christmases haven't been quite the same. When their oldest daughter Oliva is forced into a seven-day quartine after returning home from a shift as a doctor in a Haug Outbreak abroad. Phoebe the younger sister has become engaged and looks forward to planning her wedding. Their father, Andrew not one for all the fuss hides in his home office, all while their mother, Emma, tries to create the perfect holiday. Oliva is trying to readjust to life outside an outbreak, Andrew and Emma are harboring secrets and poor Phoebe is blind to her fiances' struggles. Interest dynamic for a quarantine.



• Crisis, secrets, and unexpected connections oh my! This read like a soap opera but Hornak did it in such a way, that you became caught up in the characters and gads I am going to say it. She made me feel sorry for them. Even poor Phoebe who acted at times like a selfish child.



• Hornak captured the complications and simplicity of family. Age old arguments, childhood stories no one lets you forget and labeling you can never escape. Each character fell into some cliche, the fix it all Mom, the opinionated activist, the favorite and the pompous and self-righteous.



• We are given multiple perspectives that allowed us to see past their outward exteriors exposing not only their flaws but honorable traits.



• I loved how each chapter was labeled with who, their place within the house and the time. It felt like a play or whodunnit.



• Unexpected guests, the epidemic, and complications made for some interesting scenes. We did get snippets of humor and fond memories. For a home under quarantine, it certainly was busy!  All of which proved to be addictive, because I needed answers as I awaited reactions and discoveries.



• We witness growth in each of the characters and I felt they left quartine understanding each other and perhaps closer. I cannot say I loved any of them and certainly wouldn't befriend any, but I did identify with Emma and could see some aspects of her in myself.



• The book offers some diversity and I liked the openness of the characters.

Decaffeinated Aspects:

• All of the threads and twists were well developed but together all in the same week made the tale feel more like a soap opera. There was a lot happening to these poor people individually and as a family.



• You aren't going to love any of these characters, even Emma felt pigeonholed as a housewife.  All of them possess traits you will struggle with. However, I must point out that at no time did I want to set this down. It was addictive. Mhmm..like a soap opera or reality tv. I am quite sure this will be snagged for the big screen.



• As addictive as this was, I wish that the characters had been more fleshed out and some of the melodrama removed.



• The Birches handling of the quarantine and Haag virus drove me crazy.

Copy provided by the publisher. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer