Book info

• Title According to Yes
• Author Dawn French
• Year 2015
• Genre Contemporary

The Foreign Land of the Very Wealthy - otherwise known as Manhattan's Upper East Side - has its own rigid code of behaviour. It's a code strictly adhered to by the Wilder-Bingham family. Emotional displays - unacceptable. Unruly behaviour - definitely not welcome. Fun - no thanks. This is Glenn Wilder-Bingham's kingdom. A beautifully displayed, impeccably edited fortress of restraint. So when Rosie Kitto, an eccentric thirty-eight-year-old primary school teacher from England, bounces into their lives with a secret sorrow and a heart as big as the city, nobody realises that she hasn't read the rule book.

Thoughts

I love Dawn French and it’s so easy to see elements of the lady herself in the lead character of this book. Rosie Kitto is a fabulous, slightly frumpy, but cheerful and forceful character, inserting herself very firmly into the lives of an uptight old school New York family.

The book feels very old fashioned to start with and takes a while to get going, but as Rosie begins to get to know the family quite well indeed, you really do start to soften towards them and towards her. Judge all you like, it’s actually quite easy to see how the events that happened could happen.

By the end, I was feeling quite inspired and uplifted. That you can be human and make mistakes, you can change your mind, and you can just be who you are. A really good read.

Rating: 4 / 5