So much fun! The only drawback was that I really wanted more, haha.

I loved this book. Olivia is going home for Christmas. She has been working as a doctor in Liberia and has been looking after patients with a communiable disease Haag virus. She will need to be in quarantine for seven days and will spend time with her parents a d sister in their family holiday home in Norfolk over Christmas.
Olivia has secrets but so does her mother and father. Anyone who has contact with them will have to stay in quarantine with them.
I loved the way each of the family members interacted with each other. This was a feel good story about families, secrets and identity sert in Norfolk and the present time.

What a delightful read! I enjoyed every word. Thanks for sharing.

I love a good family drama, and seeing that it is nearing the end of November, I thought I should take myself out of my murder & mayhem comfort zone and join the ever-growing festive spirit that has been emerging on Goodreads with readers joyfully delving into Christmas stories. Mind you, there is more panic than festivity in the Birch household as they are facing a “Haag arrest” over Christmas, a voluntary seven-day quarantine in their grand old mansion in Norfolk after the older daughter Olivia’s return from Liberia where she has been treating victims of the deadly Haag virus. I can just imagine the tension of being cooped up with your nearest and dearest over a whole week, without the possibility of escaping into the company of others or outside for even just a little while. And it doesn’t help that each member of the Birch family harbours a secret that has the potential to seriously interrupt their fake bonhomie if it ever came to light. Of course, lies have a way of raising their ugly heads like vipers in the grass at the most inopportune moments, throwing the family into one crisis after another.

Whilst I found none of the Birches particularly endearing, as was no doubt intended, the drama soon engulfed me and sucked me into its fold, and I was irrevocably hooked. There are some very dysfunctional dynamics hiding behind these musty walls, most of which could have been resolved with a good heart-to-heart over a few glasses of egg-nogg; but let’s face it, we often don’t state the obvious, do we? I think that most of the story’s irresistible draw lay in my dusty memories of Christmases past, when countless dramas unfolded as the whole extended family met – and argued out all their grievances they had been saving up for a year.

Whilst there were a few quite predictable and sometimes slightly stereotypical elements and the brief threat of a corny romance (oh horror!), Seven Days of Us was a light and entertaining book about a family in crisis that would make a perfect Christmas holiday read whilst trying to survive your own family dramas. Written from several different POVs and featuring all the Birch family members in short and precise chapters, I got a feel for all the characters involved and the story moved along at a good pace. I could see this turned into a TV series, because everyone likes a good drama at the expense of other families, even just for the chance to thank fate that these are not our kin (or perhaps not). I did think that there were a few issues with character development (most characters never quite managed to move out of their stereotype) and would have loved to see a bit more “cutting edge” conflict and wit, but it was nonetheless entertaining and kept me turning the pages.

Seven Days of Us is a light, entertaining and reasonably feel-good drama about an unusual family Christmas – perfect reading whilst being holed up in your room whilst trying to avoid your own relos at the annual Christmas do.