Review: Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornak

Source: Review copy from Berkley
Rating: ★★★★☆

Francesca Hornak’s Seven Days of Us follows the Birch family as they are forced to spend the week of the Christmas holidays in quarantine in their Norfolk estate, Weyfield Hall. The Birch family — Andrew, a former war correspondent turned food critic; Emma, who put her dreams on hold to assume the role of family manager and caregiver; and their daughters, Olivia, a doctor whose work in Liberia treating victims of the Haag virus is the reason for the seven-day quarantine, and Phoebe, whose self-centeredness puts her at odds with her sister — are less than thrilled about being cooped up in the old house together.

Emma, whose memories of the old days prevent her from allowing improvements to her dilapidated family home, hopes that keeping to the family holiday traditions will bring them all together. But the rest of the family is just going through the motions. Andrew spends much of his time alone in the smoking room, wondering whether or not to respond to emails that are certain to further weaken his already tenuous bonds with his wife and daughters. Phoebe is focused on her relationship with George and their future, not understanding why Olivia is so sullen upon her return from Liberia and so serious about the quarantine. Olivia knows that her family doesn’t understand what she’s seen, and that they don’t really want to. Each one of them is carrying a secret that is bound to come out over the course of the week, and the stresses of maintaining normalcy are pushed to the breaking point when a stranger arrives at their door.

In Seven Days of Us, Hornak amplifies the challenges of celebrating the holidays as a family, especially when they have grown apart over the years. The quarantine keeps the family on edge and within the boundaries of the estate, when normally they would retreat when the going gets tough. Apart from an over-the-top coincidence at the beginning of the book, the story feels believable. Hornak does a great job telling the story from each character’s point of view within such a short time frame — the one-week quarantine — and keeping each viewpoint distinct. I felt like I got to know each character, understand their motivations, and watch them evolve and grow. It was hard to like these characters, but I became more connected to them (or, at the very least, grew to appreciate them) over the course of the book.

I enjoyed Seven Days of Us as a whole, as the characters and their secrets were interesting, the premise clever, and the pacing and flow spot-on. I definitely would recommend it for readers who like stories about family secrets and conflicts, and I look forward to reading more by Hornak in the future.

Disclosure: I received Seven Days of Us from Berkley for review.