I really loved this family drama (even though it did make my hypochondria flare up a bit ;-). Emma and Andrew's oldest, Olivia, has returned to England for Christmas after treating patients with an ebola-like disease in Liberia. The entire family must spend seven days together in quarantine in the family's country estate. Each family member has one gigantic secret, which keeps the level of tension and suspense high for everyone, including the reader. The chapters are short, and the entire novel is told in alternating viewpoints to keep you turning the pages. This is a wonderful comedy of errors, as well as a beautiful meditation on love and family. Highly recommended if you enjoy British humor and family dramas.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the preview copy!

Seven Days of Us is an entertaining and deceptively light novel about a family. The Birches are an interesting group. Andrew, the father, is a snarky restaurant reviewer for a newspaper. Emma, the matriarch, just wants everyone to have the kind of Christmas holiday she remembers from childhood. Altruistic eldest daughter Olivia is a doctor just returned from relief work in Liberia and the reason for the family quarantine. Younger daughter Phoebe is completely self-absorbed and more than a bit annoyed at being forced to spend the holidays with her family instead of her new fiancé. Told from the perspective of each family member, plus a couple of other characters, the chapters are short and follow a day-by-day form that made the novel easy to stop and start reading. This was also a great way to lay out the Birch family’s messy dynamics. It ended up being an emotional read for me – that was unexpected and very much appreciated. Recommended to fans of novels about imperfect families. I loved the setting(s) and the holiday-ness to which I think most readers will relate on one level or another.

Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornak will keep you up late as you race to the finish. This novel features a British family who is in a voluntary one week quarantine after one of their members returns from treating plague victims in Africa. The quarantine rules aren't followed quite as strictly as they should be and this just adds to the plot. I love all of the family members as they each have their own quirks. I'm a bit conflicted about the ending and I keep coming back to whether I'd have written it the same way if I'd been the author. This book was a pleasure to read. Read and enjoy!

It's hard to give an objective review of this book, because it felt very personal for me. I very strongly identified with Olivia's character. Reading about her return to England after working as a doctor during a pandemic in Africa reminded me of returning to the US after living in southern Africa. Like Olivia, I had trouble communicating with people who seemed so shallow, self-centered, and stupid, who didn't seem to care about the reality of so many people facing pandemics, poverty, low literacy, unemployment... But, in the book and in life, I learned to see the complexities in people, the importance of sharing and explaining instead of being hostile and withdrawn, and to appreciate that we are all products of our life experiences, internal biases, and cultural surroundings. Love can bridge the gaps, can open people's eyes, and can inspire people to go out and be good in the world.

Really enjoyed this! It's very character driven so you really get to know these characters. There were some good twists and things that I wasn't expecting. I felt a lot for these characters and thought the drama was realistic. Really good book!

This is a solid story about a family shoved together for a week during the holidays because of a quarantine. The older sister, Olivia, has been working in an epidemic zone in Africa and might be contagious herself, and so the entire family has to stay at home. Of course they live on a property with a giant manor plus a bungalow, so it is not quite as "close quarters" as it could have been in a more middle class telling of this story. Interesting choice.

Each chapter changes perspective to a different character and lists the specific date and time of the events, and the book moves in linear fashion. There are also pieces of history coming out though, because Olivia usually skips family time even on holidays, younger sister Phoebe has just gotten engaged and is hoping to marry at the home, and an unknown half-brother has made his presence known to the father when the novel starts. The mother and inheritor of the estate has also received a cancer diagnosis, but has not told her family.

Very readable, probably best as a holiday or beachy read, but not something I can see sticking with me for long. Solid 3-3.5 stars.

Lovely, bittersweet book. A good read-alike for Jojo Moyes, etc.

Seven Days of Us is an entertaining, quick read about a family forced into isolation together — a perfect setting for secrets to emerge and for walls to come down. Phoebe and Olivia rediscover the sisterly affection that’s been absent since childhood; Andrew and Olivia finally come to understand one another’s obsessions and sacrifices; Emma and Andrew confront the iciness that’s taken hold in their marriage. Meanwhile, Phoebe’s fiancé crashes the quarantine, as does an American who ends up being the long-lost illegitimate son Andrew never knew he had.

The story moves along at a smart pace, with each character getting bits and pieces of the story. The main chapters focus on the seven days of quarantine, while within each day, there are sections devoted to the different characters, each section showing the time and the location within the house — which lends the narrative a claustrophobic air that’s appropriate for the involuntary intimacy and close quarters experienced by the family.

I do wish the author had included some sort of introduction explaining the quarantine rules. Why would a doctor treating epidemic patients be allowed back into England, passing through a major aiport, in order to go into quarantine with her family? Is this a normal protocol? Sure, readers could Google it, but it would have been helpful to have a bit of context, considering that this is the major plot driver of the entire book.

My interest never flagged, but certain plot developments (no spoilers here!) were completely obvious, and a tragic turn toward the end of the book seemed both jarring and unnecessary.

Overall, I recommend Seven Days of Us. It’s a pleasant, amusing story of family dynamics, and the ups and downs of the relationships between parents and children, between siblings, and between spouses definitely ring true.

Above average family drama as close as it gets to literate fiction largely due to the writing flow and structure. The characters and story lacked
the complex nuances of literary fiction, an enjoyable read nonetheless. three plus stars

Well one third of the way through this book I didn’t think I could take any more of this family and it’s British-ness, so up tight! I have four daughters and son in laws and five grandchildren so I know a bit about family get togethers. It’s true that often when we are all together the girls drop back into their slot in the family, oldest, baby, funniest, most laid back, etc. This family didn’t seem to have any humor to tie them together but I muddled on. But SEVEN DAYS, we never go more than four days all together, that is the absolute limit, so I was willing to see how they would survive the quarantine.

What a surprise the rest of this book was!! Ms. Hormak, in the space of just seven days, managed to make these characters grow, or maybe “come out” to each other would be a better way to describe it. I will quickly go through the characters as there are many other reviews that have written at length about them, but then what is the surprise for the new reader?

Dad Andrew writes a review column about restaurants, has done so for many years, he can be quite snarky. His first job and passion was being a war correspondent, but when children arrived he gave that up as it was too risky. He ends up being quite funny, forgiving and open.

Mom Emma loves them all to tears and just wants everyone to get along (I know this feeling well). She has just been diagnosed with what could be a devastating cancerous growth but chooses to hide it from the family until after the quarantine. She is truly a caring, open, warm and funny person who will have to learn to lean on others sometimes.

Oldest sister Olivia is a doctor just returning from treating an outburst of Haag virus in Liberia and needs to be quarantined, her family insists that she come home and they will all sit out this quarantine together. She has always been very independent, interested in helping people and getting to know other cultures, though she doesn’t understand her own family. She has a new love which she is keeping secret until after the seven days are up.

Little sister Phoebe has always been a daddy’s girl. She goes to all of the restaurants he visits and he often incorporates her viewpoint and impressions into his reviews. She is newly engaged and thrilled to finally be adding her name to the list of her friends who are getting married. She loves Olivia and likes to remember the days when they were younger and spent many fun times together. She spends lots of time obsessing about the correct make up, clothes to wear, etc.

There is a surprise guest at Christmas this year, only Andrew had an inkling that something or rather someone, might be calling upon him soon but he didn’t expect it at Christmas, especially since they are under quarantine!

As the secrets that these characters hold tight begin to come to light and they share what’s in their hearts, the family and this book takes off. By the end I was sobbing at one point, that’s how much I felt about these people who were suddenly not so different than my family, or probably yours and many others.

I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher and NetGalley.

Will also post to Amazon and Barnes and Noble upon publication.

Friends and co-workers have really enjoyed this book, but I couldn't make it past the first few chapters.

Fantastic! I had a stack of galleys on my pile that desperately needed to be read, but couldn't put this one down. Quick and insightful, with an incredibly thoughtful and realistic take on family dynamics. I can't imagine a better book to take home for the holidays.

The idea behind the story sounded interesting. Who honestly likes too much time with family members? Unfortunately, this author failed to hold my attention. I appreciate the effort, but this novel just wasn't for me.

Most families probably wouldn't find it arduous to be confined to quarters for a seven-day period that includes Christmas. You stock up on food (or have it delivered if supplies run low), queue up some interesting programs on Netflix, bake and cook, play some board games, read the books that have been sidelined all year, and maybe even have some conversations. It all sounds rather delightful, like being stranded in a snowstorm with all the modern conveniences.

For the Birch family, it's an ordeal in claustrophobia. Sexagenarians Andrew and Emma, who have drifted apart, will have their adult daughters Olivia and Phoebe both home for the holidays, but no one seems to be looking forward to it. This is in part because Olivia is back from Liberia where she has been working with people afflicted with the Haag virus (think Ebola) and she is under a seven day voluntary quarantine. Which means the family must be quarantined, too. It's also in part due to the fact that the holidays will be spent at Weyfield Hall, Emma's spacious but drafty childhood home, which has seen better days and Emma steadfastly refuses any renovations. Andrew has never felt comfortable there and Olive is especially uncomfortable with its amenities after months of deprivation and squalor.

The biggest problem, though, is that almost everyone has at least one huge secret. Meet the Birches:

Emma, the matriarch. She sacrificed whatever career aspirations she might have had to raise their children and married beneath her station in the eyes of her parents. She recently received a worrying medical diagnosis and has decided to keep that news to herself until after the holidays. Only her best friend and a total stranger she met at the airport know. She believes it would cast a cloud over their festivities, and there's nothing anyone can do about it until the New Year anyway.

Andrew, the patriarch. A former war correspondent who covered Lebanon many decades ago. After the birth of their second daughter, Emma compelled him to give up his dangerous career. Since then, he's been writing snarky restaurant reviews. A one-night stand during his Lebanese days produced a son that he didn't know anything about until recently. He's uncertain how to respond to the young man's email or how to broach the news to his family, so he does nothing, hoping the issue will resolve on its own.

Olive, 32, the older daughter, a doctor. Though neither she nor her father would admit it, they are very much alike. She's adventurous and has a strong social and moral conscience that has taken her far afield over the years. While in Liberia, she broke protocols and had a physical relationship with another doctor, potentially exposing herself to the Haag virus. She isn't ready to tell her family about this burgeoning relationship, and is devastated when she learns that Sean has been infected with Haag.

Phoebe, 28, does something involving reality television. More than a little spoiled and rarely serious about much, she is her father's favorite, often joining him on his restaurant visits. She still lives with her parents, although she has recently gotten engaged to her long-time boyfriend, George, and is immersing herself in the world of wedding preparations.

Two other characters play a large part in the proceedings. First, there's George, the new fiancé. He comes from a good family, has a good education, but there's something not quite right in the relationship and the elder Birches aren't terribly happy he'll be their son-in-law, although they never voice this opinion. And then there's Jesse, Andrew's heretofore unknown son, a gay vegan documentary film maker who was raised in America. He's taken a huge gamble in going to Norfolk, England, hoping to meet his father without having any response to his appeals. Sean, carrying out a very public battle with a deadly illness, is off-screen for much of the book.

The story is both quaint and fraught with crises as secrets are deliberately or accidentally revealed. The book relies heavily on coincidence (what are the odds that Emma would meet Jesse at Heathrow while waiting to pick up Olive, or that Jesse would end up having drinks with George and his siblings at a pub?), and the characters all tend to be somewhat self-absorbed and judgmental. It plays out a bit like a farce, with people stumbling in at exactly the wrong moment to overhear something being said about them or, like Jesse, literally stumbling into the quarantine house thanks to a door being ajar.

It's a book mostly about rediscovering one's self and the other members of the nuclear family. Each of the Birches must acknowledge some hard truths about themselves and about the state of their relationships with each of the others in the family. It demonstrates the theory that with four people there are at least eight different relationships: each individual with each other individual, as well as parents to offspring and, for example, the strong bond between Andrew and Phoebe vs Emma and Olvia.

It takes a pressure cooker environment, where no one can flee except into the omnipresent social media gadgets, to force them to come to terms with each other and arrive at a new state of being. Best read during a blizzard, preferably with eggnog or some other tipple at hand and plenty of festive food and music.

This family had me feeling a zillion times better about my own quirky, messy family, haha! Self-absorbed is right, and the dysfunctional state of this bunch is carried through a fairly warmhearted plot by wit, secrets upon secrets, and the odd (somewhat predictable) plot twists. I wouldn't have necessarily sought out this sort of read but I finished this book in a surprisingly short amount of time & thoroughly enjoyed it!

The Birch family is not your typical family, Andrew, the father is a writer and has a column on a newspaper. He spends his days going to restaurants and testing their foods and then writing reviews about them. Emma may be the most normal of them all, she is a stay at home mom, staying home after having the two daughters and dedicating her life to them, and after they were grown? She just stayed home and dedicated her life to take care of the house and husband. Olivia is the oldest of their daughters and she is a doctor, she loves to volunteer to third world countries whenever she can. Phoebe is the youngest and still kind of lives at home, she is spoiled and is currently engaged to a very wealthy guy and family and she cannot wait to plan her wedding.

With all their busy lives, the Birch family don't spend that much time together at all, so when Olivia is coming back from treating an epidemic abroad and tells them that she needs to stay in quarantine for a whole week and that includes her whole family too...well, things get a little interesting. Emma is all happy about it, because for the first time in years they all going to spend Christmas together even if that means staying in quarantine and keeping a huge secret from her family. Andrew doesn't know what to think of it, but he goes along, that is until he gets an email that can change their whole entire lives. Phoebe is so into planning her wedding that she doesn't care where she is for a week.

Things are a little weird and tense for the first few days but things start to get interesting and wild as the days go by because as much as they want to keep things in secret? Well, the secrets start to come out and Oh My, do things get interesting.

I loved the writing, I love the multiple POVs. I'm not usually one to read books with so many POVs, and this book had 5 POVs and there wasn't one point in the book where I was confused to who was narrating the book. I loved how the secrets linked one person to another and another and another, it was so freaking amazing. I'm not going to give spoilers at all, because it is best going blind into the book and finding out things for yourself and trust me you will appreciate it more. So much drama and be prepare to laugh and cry and everything else in between.

5 out of 5 stars for sure and totally recommend it.

Just imagine spending the holidays in quarantine with your family. Sure, some families get along great and are close knit, others, not so much. This is the situation the Birch family finds themselves in. Oldest daughter, Olivia, has been treating Haag, a deadly disease. Phoebe, is sort of the spoiled, immature youngest daughter. Emma, is the mother, trying to keep the holidays merry and bright and go on as if nothing is wrong. Andrew is a very unhappy food critic after giving up being a foreign correspondent.

They spend the holidays in their country estate, far from cell service. But that doesn't stop the outside world from intruding from time to time and as time goes on tensions rise, secrets come to light and this family will either come together or split further apart.

I was totally not expecting the ending to this book, was a twist that I didn't expect to read. But, I enjoyed the whole story. Knowing if my own family was in this situation there is no telling how things would work out. I think this would be the perfect read before the holidays, that way when you have family for a few hours or even a day or two you realize it could be worse!

I was given an eARC by the publisher through NetGalley.

Quirky debut, with full-on drama; this book demands to be read cover-to-cover in one sitting. Clear your schedule. Highly recommended.

I read an advance copy of Seven Days of Us a couple of months ago when I was down with a cold and was looking for something easy and light. Despite the fact that it was July, I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and I’m sure it will be even more fun for readers who pick it up when it actually ’tis the season. A dysfunctional-family novel that is extremely heavy on coincidences, this Christmas romp is set in a British country estate and features a large cast of characters.

Olivia is a doctor who has been ordered to stay in quarantine due to her recent work in a disease-plagued African nation—and her whole family’s locked in with her. Phoebe, the antithesis of her serious physician sister, is obsessed with her upcoming wedding. Their parents, Emma and Andrew, have problems of their own, and no idea that a few family secrets are about to come to light and wreak havoc during their period of supposed isolation (naturally, not everyone in the family’s orbit manages to stay outside those four walls, despite the danger).

Seven Days of Us may sometimes strain credibility, but it’ll go down easy after a few glasses of eggnog. The ending may even coax a tear or two.

Seven Days of Us by Francesa Hornak starts out a little slow, and I don't think the going back and forth between characters helps. As the story moves along the reader becomes invested in the characters and wants to know what happens next to them. By the time Seven Days of Us ended I hated to say good-by to my "friends". I was given an early copy to review.