Families in books: The Nightingales in People for Lunch by Georgina Hammick

If ever there was a cautionary tale for Christmas it’s this classic story of a bereaved family preparing to host a meal for unwanted guests

It is almost thirty years since Georgina Hammick published People for Lunch. I picked it up recently and realised that if ever there were a sympathetic, bittersweet tale for Christmas, or for anyone flinching at the prospect of entertaining at any time of year, the title story in this best-selling debut collection is it.

The family is incomplete. Mrs Nightingale’s husband has died of a heart attack. We first meet her in bed with the family dog, Bone, slumped alongside. The dog is not officially allowed in her bed but is described with an accuracy that suggests she is used to scrutinising him at close quarters: “The left ear was open its flap splayed on the pillow to reveal an intricacy of shiny and waxy pink coils”. Her first pronouncements are: “I don’t like dogs” (untrue) and “I hate being a widow” (true). Her apron announces: “I Hate Cooking” (probably true).

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