June's Room

I felt like I breezed through this book because it was so readable, and because I liked most of the people in it so much. The tale of a family of Spanish immigrantsto Scotland; the proud father with a past he prefers not to talk about, the mother making an effort to integrate in their new scottish home, the sons growing up neither one thing nor the other,not fully spanish, nor indeed scottish. As the family ages and the father becomes ill,his thoughts return to his roots... and his decision to return to Spain to settle an old issue throws up a long buried history that his children have not previously known about.
In addition to these family secrets we observe the family relationships..a younger son trying to make his way in modern Scotland with a father firmly rooted in his mediterranean past. As I am married to a mediterranean husband(albeit from North Africa) with whom I have a very 'english' child I recognised the way of these things from experience...