The Berry family at the centre of the tale are superbly eccentric. The extensions to the family are equally deliciously strange. Even the family's animals are wonderfully odd. The book will make you laugh aloud - if read on a train, it'll ensure you have a carriage to yourself; if read by the pool, you'll have a wide choice of sunbeds.

Beware - the book is not only funny; it's heartbreakingly sad too. The phrase 'Sorrow floats' will live with me for ever.