A Spot of Bother

George Hall is a carefree man. A little distant, maybe a little cautious, not quite at ease with fatherhood's emotional demands, or manly bonhomie. He has no understanding of the modern obsession of talking about everything. "George felt the secret of contentment lay in complete ignorance of many th... ings." However, some things in life cannot be ignored. George settles down to a comfortable retirement at the age of 61, builds a shed in his garden, reads historical novels and listens to a bit of light jazz. His tempestuous daughter, Katie, then announces to the deeply inappropriate Ray that she is getting re-married. Her family is not happy – as her brother Jamie observes, Ray has "strangler's hands." Katie can't decide whether she loves Ray, or loves the wonderful way he has with her son Jacob, and her mother Jean is slightly outdated by all the wedding planning and arguing that has caused her to get in the way of her late-life affair with one of her husband's ex-colleagues. And Jamie's tidy, pleasant life created crumbles when he fails to invite his lover, Tony, into the dreaded nuptials. Unnoticed in the uproar, George discovers a sinister hip lesion, and he starts losing his mind quietly. The way in which these damaged people fall apart – and come together – as a family is the real subject of Haddon's troubling yet amusing portrait of a dignified man trying to go politically insane. A SPOT OF BOTHER is the unforgettable follow-up by Mark Haddon to the internationally sought after bestseller THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME. Here the madness of family life – literally – is proving rich comic fodder for Haddon's crackling prose and bittersweet insights into misdirected love.