It’s Christmas, and for the first time in years the entire Birch family will be under one roof. Even Emma and Andrew’s elder daughter—who is usually off saving the world—will be joining them at Weyfield Hall, their aging country estate. But Olivia, a doctor, is only coming home because she has to. Having just returned from treating an epidemic abroad, she’s been told she must stay in quarantine for a week…and so too should her family.

For the next seven days, the Birches are locked down, cut off from the rest of humanity—and even decent Wi-Fi—and forced into each other’s orbits. Younger, unabashedly frivolous daughter Phoebe is fixated on her upcoming wedding, while Olivia deals with the culture shock of being immersed in first-world problems.

As Andrew sequesters himself in his study writing scathing restaurant reviews and remembering his glory days as a war correspondent, Emma hides a secret that will turn the whole family upside down.

In close proximity, not much can stay hidden for long, and as revelations and long-held tensions come to light, nothing is more shocking than the unexpected guest who’s about to arrive…

I love a messy family drama, especially one that corrals everyone under one roof and lets the secrets unravel. Add in quarantine, complicated family dynamics, long-held secrets, and holiday cheer, and you’ve got a story that hits so many of my favorite buttons.

The Birch family hasn’t all been together for Christmas in years, and honestly, you can see why within a few chapters. They’re all flawed, horrible at communicating, and all more adept at pretending everything is fine than actually saying what’s on their mind. Olivia, the eldest daughter, has just returned from South America where she was treating a deadly virus. Because she was exposed, she has to quarantine for a week, and since she came straight home, the entire family has to quarantine with her. Merry Christmas to them.

The forced proximity turns into the perfect pressure cooker. This family has layers of secrets and they’re all about to bubble up. Emma, the matriarch, has just gotten a life-changing diagnosis and doesn’t know how to tell anyone without ruining the holiday. Phoebe, the younger daughter, is wrapped up in her upcoming wedding and missing the fiancé who’s spending Christmas with his own family across town. Meanwhile, that same fiancé is quietly unraveling because he may or may not be gay. And as if that weren’t enough, a stranger arrives in town looking for his birth father, who is the patriarch, Andrew Birch. The same Andrew who has absolutely no idea he even has another child.

It’s a lot, but the author balances it beautifully. The shifts between humor, emotional honesty, and outright chaos feel natural. You’re laughing one minute, annoyed at these people the next, and then suddenly you’re hit with a tender moment that sneaks up on you. That’s what made this book so fun for me. These characters feel real, and as someone who comes from a dysfunctional family of their own, they were completely relatable.

The quarantine element also makes everything funnier and sharper. They can’t storm off. They can’t escape to the pub or take a lap around town to cool off. They’re stuck inside their home, trapped with each other and their baggage, trying to protect feelings while also desperately wanting to kill each other. It’s the perfect setup for humor but also for emotional truth.

The story moves at a good pace, weaving between different perspectives without losing momentum. What I loved most was how the book balanced warmth with sadness. There are laugh-out-loud moments, sweet ones, and some deeply frustrating ones, but they all feel earned. It’s not trying to be a sappy holiday story. It’s more like sitting at someone else’s Christmas dinner, watching everything fall apart and quietly savoring the drama because, hey, at least it’s not your family.

I listened to this one and the narration by Jilly Bond was spot-on. She has a voice that sounds magical and wise, but she also hit every note perfectly and captured all of the character’s voices in a way that made them distinct without being cringy.

By the end, the Birch family grew on me and I finished the book hoping they’d all be okay when all was said and done. You don’t necessarily like all of them all the time, but you understand them, and that hits just as hard. This one was the perfect palette cleanser between holiday romances. It’s funny, heartfelt, messy, and honest. If you love character-driven family chaos set against a festive backdrop, definitely pick this up.