This is one of those odd books that I quite enjoyed despite not really getting on with it. Or perhaps I didn’t enjoy it despite finding it quite likeable. Hard to put my finger on my feelings with any degree of accuracy.

Jack’s last orders were last his drinking partners from the pub in Bermondsey should scatter his ashes from the pier at Margate. This book is split into short segments narrated by his friends and son, and also his widow who stays at home, as the day goes on.

In some places I found the book really captivating as the little details of life build up to show a bigger picture of what has happened between several families over a lifetime, and in other places the same things just seemed mundane.

I’ll read more of Swift, but, curiously, this isn’t one I’d recommend.