The Cement Garden

Ian McEwan. I found this to be a rather strange book, but enthralling all the same. Four children, with a very disorganised mother, find themselves orphaned, quite suddenly. They seem to know what the right thing to do is, but somehow fail to do it. It's alluring to be left without any adult supervision, and together with the very hot weather they let life slide by without doing anything about their predicament. It had in my view overtones of Lord of the Flies.