Meeting The English by Kate Clanchy

When Philip Prys suffers a stroke his first wife, Myfanwy, hires a Scottish school leaver, Struan, to care for him in a bid to prevent his second wife, Shirin, from dissipating the family funds.  The book then follows Struan's attempt to fulfil his job description despite an increasingly dysfunctional family life involving both wives and Philip and Myfanwy's two children. The characters in this book are very well observed, particularly Struan and Julia, the youngest of the two children, although Myfanwy is perhaps slightly overdone as the uncaring first wife.  The writing is excellent, with lots of wonderful descriptions of London and the Heath, which makes this book very easy to read and enjoy.  I would recommend this novel.