One of my writer friends has given me a horror of the kind of book that begins: “Something happened on a particular day. I know it was that particular day because … ” Like salted caramel ice cream or pulled pork, it has become very fashionable, and now it’s been pointed out to me, I’ve begun to see it everywhere. So I wasn’t predisposed to like Joanna Cannon’s debut The Trouble with Goats and Sheep, as her first two sentences read: “Mrs Creasy disappeared on a Monday. I know it was a Monday, because it was the day the dustbin men came …”
Which makes it all the more impressive that, despite this, I found the first chapter of this novel to be one of the best, most lively and funny openings I’ve read in ages. It’s set in the famously hot summer of 1976 and narrated by 10-year-old Grace, and the first 30 or so pages skate along on her charm, her oblique moments of perception, and her humorous observations: “Remington padded into the kitchen. He used to be a Labrador, but he’d become so fat, it was difficult to tell.”
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