"As neighbours arrive and music plays, we gradually learn the backstories of the main characters, from teenage Hanna, who is planning to run away from her pale, preoccupied father and house-proud, socially ambitious mother, to mysterious Rita, newly arrived from Australia to begin a new life, and shell-shocked ex-soldier Steve, whose paranoia is exacerbated by the shadowy figure watching the street."
"It's a privileged existence, but Lalla, who is not only admirably resourceful but also manipulative and utterly lacking in empathy, has her eye on a larger house in considerably pricier Hampstead as well as a place at an exclusive school for Nelly, who is already demonstrating that the antisocial apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Murder, body disposal, blackmail Lalla will stop at nothing to achieve her ends, but things"
Most action in The Barbecue at No 9 occurs during the Live Aid concert on 13 July 1985 at a Gordon family barbecue in a new-build cul-de-sac. Neighbours and music set the scene while teenage Hanna, Rita from Australia, and shell-shocked ex-soldier Steve reveal tensions, paranoia, and hidden watchers. The narrative is a slow-burn about friendship, community, family secrets, choices, and lies, underscored by an evocative 1980s soundtrack and nostalgic tone. A Sociopath's Guide to a Successful Marriage centres on Lalla Rook, an unempathetic, manipulative mother in Muswell Hill whose pursuit of status escalates into murder, disposal, blackmail, and chaotic consequences when an intruder threatens to expose her murky past, delivered with satirical bite and twisty plotting.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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