Mud by Emily Thomas

Book of the Week: 30 September 2018

Lydia is horrified when her dad has money problems and moves her and her siblings Elsa, Harry and Sam to live on a decrepit Thames barge called Lady Beatrice. Even worse, they have to move in with dad’s ‘lady friend’ Kate and her three children: Sally, Eric and Jake. Lydia’s worst fears are realised when she moves into her cramped cabin that has no electricity and damp running down the walls. When her rebellious older sister Elsa leaves for Cambridge University, Lydia is left with her squabbling family, trying to fit in with new classmates and a father who takes to drink.

Lydia is a quirky and funny narrator but the family’s precarious situation is portrayed in a clear-eyed, unsentimental way and real anxieties are never glossed over. This book has been compared to the classic I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith and there are similaries. Mud, however, is much less of a fairytale and more a nicely observed slice of life.