It was a case of Maya after midnight this weekend, and I’m happy to say I wasn’t up because of troubles in the family. Really, as much as I love to read, the writers that can keep me up past 2am are few and far between.

What an absolutely life-like creation Homemaking for the Down-at-Heart is, bittersweet, warm, thought-provoking and humorous, like all of Dowling’s novels.

From now on “you give me sleepless nights” counts as a compliment

What struck me most was the complete sincerity with which each character is imbued. Getting it right, in the third person, is very hard work, I think. And each person is so carefully presented, one almost believes the author has Mr Morland’s psychic abilities, because how else can you create such a credible and diverse range of personae? And I’m so impressed with the fine balance of emotions – as Karen Scherzinger points out – there are neither slips into sentimentality, nor the other extreme, slapstick. You feel that Dowling loves each character, flaws and all. She cares for them too much to use them as set pieces or cannon fodder or pawns on a chessboard.

It must have taken great emotional energy to write about life and death this way. To demonstrate the descent of a loved one into the long valley of the shadow of death. To allow your protagonist to show such difficulty, at times, with filial piety. To say things that many are afraid to say. And to stir such empathy.

I wish for this book the wide readership it deserves.