It's hard not to compare this to 'Normal People' when they both have similar titles, both are examples of popular literary realism, they were released at the same time and I read them almost back to back on my kindle. Although they're both centred around relationships, and I loved the BBC drama of Normal People (if you haven't watched it, then you need to), Ordinary People was definitely my favourite.
The book follows the stories of two couples living in London in 2008, just after Obama's election. Melissa and Michael have a new baby and adjusting to this makes the small cracks in their relationship intensify. Meanwhile Stephanie's worried about her partner Damien's reaction to his father's death and is struggling to cope with his new crisis whilst looking after their children.
This was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction last year, and I read it as part of an effort to try and read everything from that list. I feel like this was literary realism done well. Although it covered the mundanity of relationships - the petty arguments, thoughts on daily commutes and little struggles with children, it still delved into deeper issues. The four main characters are Black and it felt important that this book has been so popular without having the emphasis in it on Black pain and trauma, but rather highlighted different Black cultures being brought together in different households.
Other important topics which happen in life are interwoven with the more ordinary ones: Damien is working through grief for a father that he didn't have an 'ordinary' relationship with; Michael is not faithful to Melissa and feels both guilty and relieved by it; Melissa and Michael argue over living in bustling London vs being out in the suburbs.
I gave this three stars - I enjoyed this book, but the genre is something that I'm not the biggest fan of and there definitely were moments where the plot really slowed down to a point where I wanted to skip past until it got interesting again.
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