Columbus Day

Publisher and industry reviews

UK Kirkus review

Jessica's childhood is an eccentric one: it is 1973, and her beautiful, helpless mother, Olivia, spends her life in pursuit of the father who abandoned her more than 20 years before. Thus Jessica learns to knock on strangers' doors virtually at random and to rifle the telephone directory for familiar names. Jessica's father is a sad onlooker, too old to be the parent Jessica wants. But as Olivia's eccentric behaviour starts to tip over into madness, Jessica and her father unite in an effort to heal her. Jenkins has a great eye for detail, and conjures up an authentic early 1970s ambience. (Kirkus UK)