Thank you Tandem Collective UK for having me along for a buddy read of ‘People Person’ by Candice Carty-Williams, and gifting me a copy of the book too. What a treat for the May half-term break.
I had been a big fan of ‘Queenie‘ so I had high hopes for this book. And it did not disappoint. ‘People Person’ is a fantastic study of people (I guess the title gives that away) and their relationships. It especially reflects on the idea of family and what makes a family what it is.
We meet a group of siblings, who all have the same father, Cyril, but different mothers. Different women that Cyril met throughout his younger days, and promised the world to, but did not hang around to deliver. Each of the five siblings has handled this differently over the years, and they have rarely spent a lot of time together. However, when Dimple needs a team around her, after a difficult encounter with her on/off boyfriend Kyron, her siblings are all there for her, in their different ways. Even if, like Lizzie, they are a little reluctant in some ways.
Dimple is really the central character to this story, as she is the one who calls the siblings back together and it is her relationships that form the focus of the story. Dimple really goes on a journey of self-discovery as she finds out more about each of her siblings, and this forces her to reflect on the relationships she has with her father and her mother (who never really seems to have got over Cyril – and who Cyril may have had on a pedestal all those years, too).
I really enjoyed the reflection of nature versus nurture, how each of the siblings had little to do with their father and had been brought up just by their mother – yet their experiences had been very different but still similar. Some had a harder time than others, some were much happier than others but, all in all, they do realise that maybe they do need each other. There is also a clear investigation on how the past of parents can impact the future of their children.
I do not like to spoil books in my posts (as you know, and I say it nearly every time) but if you enjoyed ‘Queenie’, I think you will enjoy this. If you enjoy family drama (rather than saga), I think you will enjoy this. And, if you like strong female characters, then I think you will like this. Candice Carty-Williams writes characters and relationships brilliantly, and this is a book that is worth picking up.