To me, the title Separate Beds screams ROMANCE or CHICK-LIT, but this novel is neither. It is the sometimes heartbreaking story of a married couple, Tom and Annie Nicholson, who have made mistakes as spouses and parents, grown apart, and are now driven to the breaking point when Tom loses his job with the BBC. Five years earlier eldest daughter Mia, twin to son Jake, left the family in anger and disgust, vowing never to see them again. She left in her wake sadness, stress, and a perpetual sense of longing. Tom's unexpected job loss brings the family to the brink of financial disaster and exacerbates the feeling of failure and uncertainty that permeate the family. Without the supplementary financing provided by Tom's salary, his mother is forced to leave her retirement home and move in with the family.When Jake's marriage to the elegant and selfish Jocasta breaks up, he also moves back home along with his year-old daughter, Maisie, and finally accepts that his fine woodworking business is not lucrative enough to support himself and Maisie. Youger sibling Emily, an aspiring writer, has been enjoying the financial support of her parents and is now forced to get a "real" job. At the heart of this novel is Annie, the wife and mother whose best efforts have always seems to have fallen short in the eyes of her family. Forced to again share a room and a bed with Tom, Annie is confronted with memories of happier times and an unexpected sense of desire for her husband and the life that they seem to have lost in the great effort of living.
Elizabeth Buchan is always delightful, a sort of combination of Joanna Trollope and Marcia Willett. If you haven't read any of her novels, I'd recommend that you do.
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