Author:Jan Etherington,Joanna Lumley,Roger Allam
The first six episodes of the BBC radio comedy drama about a couple who have been married for over 40 years but are still passionate about life, love and each other
Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam play a married couple who met in the Summer of Love and have stayed together ever since. Children of the Sixties, they are still free spirits, drawn together by their love for music and one another.
We follow their conversations from the café to the kitchen table, taking in everyday chores, dealing with problems with long-held friendships and tackling their frustrations with each other. With warmth, wit and honesty, they talk about the indignities of ageing (he has a dodgy knee and is on statins, she resents her new, tri-focal glasses), their desire to still be seen as attractive and their fears and vulnerabilities around growing older.
There's jealousy and talk of affairs, confessions are made and long-held secrets are unearthed - but underlying it all is their enduring love for each other and their desire to keep the passion alive.
Written by award-winning comedy writer and journalist Jan Etherington, and based on her own 35-year marriage, this gentle comedy will ring a bell with couples of all ages.
Starring Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam
Produced by Claire Jones
A BBC Studios Production
©2020 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2020 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
A novel about how we try and fail at every age and yet somehow survive. It is brimming with kindness, forgiveness, humour and love and yet (magically) is also a page turner that held me captive until it was finished. This is Emma Straub's absolute best and the world will love it
—— Ann PatchettLiterary sunshine
—— New York TimesA wonderful read
—— Elizabeth StroutSmartly observant, wryly witty, big-hearted . . . Fans of Ann Patchett, Anne Tyler and Lily King should seek [Straub] out
—— The Sunday TimesThis beautifully written book delves deeply, perceptively and humorously into the contemporary human condition
—— Daily MailA warm and witty story about a family learning to accept the mistakes of the past and feeling their way towards a new, more truthful way of being together. Emma Straub has such a wonderful talent for depicting small-town existence, as well as the challenges and frustrations of family life, that I was utterly immersed in the world of the Stricks. It's one of those books that leaves you feeling as if you've visited a new place and met new friends. All Adults Here is a joy to read
—— Sarah Haywood, author of The CactusIf you can imagine a glorious mash-up of Elizabeth Strout and Gilmore Girls, All Adults Here is is
—— RedIf you're a fan of Anne Tyler's writing, you'll love this captivating well-observed family drama
—— Good HousekeepingA novel full of poignant insights into family
—— Woman & HomeIn All Adults Here, Straub cements her status as a master of the domestic ensemble drama. While readers will relate to the comfortable familiarity of Straub's work, it has also taken on an unexpected air of escapism
—— Time MagazineLikely to be the book that every single person will be reading this summer
—— BookpageAn affecting family saga that juggles issues as weighty as abortion, gender identity and bullying with ease
—— USA TodayEmma Straub is a master of the breezy, but still literary, family drama. Her fifth novel. . . . promises to be another sprawling, big-hearted page-turner
—— LitHubA warm, funny novel about the lifecycle of one family
—— SheerluxeStraub etches in the comforting, often funny truths readers love her for. Like us, her characters are always getting older but never feeling quite old enough to do the right thing, to be the people they want to be, to let go of the past, and they're certainly never ready to die. An all-out celebration of the life force in ourselves and in our families
—— Booklist, Starred ReviewAs always, Straub draws her characters warmly, making them appealing in their self-centeredness and generosity, their insecurity and hope. . . . Straub has a sharp eye for her characters' foibles and the details of their liberal, upper-middle-class milieu. With humor and insight, Straub creates a family worth rooting for
—— KirkusNo less charming than the rest of her oeuvre, about one family growing up and ageing, and how the parent-child roles between parents and their children is swapped
—— ThrillistWill make you question your entire childhood, and how much your parents influenced it as you learn one mother's perspective of what went right and what went wrong with her own family
—— Marie ClaireSmart and funny and warm, the kind of novel you fall into and don't ever want to end, which is exactly what we need now
—— Ann Patchett , The TimesThe book has already roused a flood of fans clamoring to find out how Astrid's story ends
—— Reader's DigestThe warm and funny novel only Emma Straub can deliver to us in this time of need
—— Paper MagazineThere's no drama like family drama as Emma Straub proves in this touching, humorous, and eye-opening new novel... All Adults Here weaves a memorable tale about navigating some of our most important, and most maddening, relationships
—— Town and CountryThere's refuge to be found in stories of everyday people going about their lives...Emma Straub has become adept at finding amusement in the mundane, and her newest, All Adults Here, might just be her best yet
—— Oprah MagazinePerceptive and fun
—— AARPIt's good company
—— Leigh Haber, Book Editor at O, The Oprah MagazineIn her witty new novel, All Adults Here, Emma Straub examines adolescence, ageing, gender, and sexuality through the nuanced experiences of three generations of a New York family
—— Harper's Bazaar USCome for the close examination of parental child roles, stay for goats
—— Good Housekeeping USUnlike parents when it comes to their children, novel readers are allowed to have favourite characters. This will be an impossible task for many readers of All Adults Here, in which Emma Straub switches among the perspectives of eight characters who are all endearing in their disarmingly muddleheaded or abjectly truth-seeking ways...gasp-worthy...belongs in the company of Cathleen Schine, Tom Perrotta and other fiction writers who understand that the degree of humour that can be teased from family drama is often directly proportional to the extent of the family's misery
—— Shelf AwarenessAll Adults Here is a master class on the small-scale American drama. There's a wry wink in the title; being grown up is no guarantee that you have it figured out. Ensconced in their upstate New York bubble, the Strick clan is the perfect show case...Yet this warm, optimistic novel argues that one should keep trying, regardless. All Adults Here affirms the value of community and family, no matter the strife that may rise up within them
—— Vogue USOne of our favourite funny and kind books of the year . . . perfectly pitched summer reading
—— StylistSet over the course of an upstate New York summer, this shrewd, kindly tale embraces a topical spread of inter-generational challenges, yielding tart truths about love, class and family. It's spry and satisfying
—— Mail on SundayA warm, funny novel
—— SheerLuxeIf you can imagine a glorious mash-up of Elizabeth Strout and Gilmore Girls, All Adults Here is it
—— RedSet over the course of an upstate New York summer, this shrewd, kindly tale embraces a topical spread of inter-generational challenges, yielding tart truths about love, class and family. It's spry and satisfying.
—— Mail on SundayA novel full of poignant insights into family
—— Woman & HomeIf you're a fan of Anne Tyler's writing, you'll love this captivating, well-observed family drama
—— Good HousekeepingBusting with witty and poignant observations about the messiness of family
—— Jenna Bush Hager , Read with Jenna Book Club PickEmma Straub has done it again! All Adults Here introduces us to the Stricks, a delightfully flawed family, with matriarch Astrid at the centre...I know I've been having trouble adulting during this time (seriously, I have to cook, again?!), and the characters in this novel feel like they're struggling right alongside me
—— Read It ForwardAll Adults Here will make you question your entire childhood
—— Marie Claire USAll Adults Here is deliciously funny and infectiously warm - a clever blend of levity and poignant insights. Straub's flair for irony and wit shine, and she puts a fresh (and progressive) spin on the age-old multigenerational family saga
—— Washington PostThe queen of the summer novel...we have turned to Emma Straub to bring us highly enjoyable, yet still thought-provoking, tales about witty protagonists in the throes of life changes
—— Entertainment WeeklyStraub's novel takes her signature wit upstate, exploring the complexities of small-town life and what it's
like to live as an adult in the same place where you grew up
If you've spent lockdown at home with the family, this one might just ring true for you. A witty, warm and thoroughly entertaining novel. Relatable
—— LuxeIt takes rare skill to make everyday family ups and downs so pleasurable to read but Straub brings both a deceptive light touch and a flinty sense of humour to this breezy big-hearted portrait of ordinary people trying to negotiate the landscape of being a grown up. A superior slice of domestic fiction for fans of Anne Tyler and Ann Patchett
—— MetroPulsating with perceptive wit . . . entertaining
—— Sunday PostGreat for fans of Liane Moriarty
—— Harpers BazaarWhips along with feel-good momentum, driven by warmth and love
—— Press AssociationWarm, witty, perceptive. Anne Tyler on laughing gas
—— Saga MagazineWritten with true warmth and wit
—— BellaPraise for Emma Straub
—— -It's the beautifully drawn, vibrant characters that make this smart, compelling novel so irresistible
—— Liane MoriartyFunny, poignant and beautifully observed
—— Jojo MoyesStraub writes beautifully and amusingly . . . hard to beat for sheer charm and gentle wit
—— Daily MailSmart and entertaining
—— StylistHugely talented . . . intelligent holiday reading
—— Woman's Hour, BBC Radio 4Warm and big-hearted . . . leaves you smiling for days
—— Maria Semple , bestselling author of Where'd You Go, BernadetteStraub writes with such verve and sympathetic understanding of her characters . . . Reading this novel has all the pleasures of reading one of Anne Tyler's compelling family portraits
—— New York TimesA funny and insightful look at love and relationships
—— Good HousekeepingWritten with true warmth and wit
—— BellaA smart, cool sensibility
—— ElleLovely, satisfying
—— EW.comSmart and fresh, offering new insights into the lives of people all around us
—— Brooklyn MagazineThoughtful and hilarious
—— Real SimpleIt would be easy to compare Straub to other masters of the genre like Meg Wolitzer or Jennifer Egan, but she's already a master in her own right
—— The MillionsWise and often hilarious
—— BuzzfeedReaders will devour this witty and warmly satisfying novel
—— Publishers WeeklyA precise and observant writer whose supple prose carries the story along without a snag. Straub's characters are a quirky and interesting bunch . . . it's a pleasure spending time with them
—— Starred Review , KirkusDevilishly observed
—— Starred Review , BooklistSprinkled with humour and insight
—— Starred Review , Library JournalStraub is consistently excellent
—— Book RiotA warm-hearted and wise tale of a family in trouble. Packed full of sharp observations and laugh-out-loud lines
—— iHer writing just gets better and better . . . Grown Ups is funny and clever in the way it tackles addiction and eating disorders and the hurly burly of family life
—— Waitrose WeekendA sharp satire of family dynamics and the trappings of wealth. It is a delicious thing - light and dark at once, full of acid observations and warmth, and fully attuned to the absurdities of familial life
—— The Gentleman's JournalAn entertaining story of family dynamics packed with vibrant characters, humour and empathy
—— The Sunday TimesA sharp, wry tale about a seemingly happy family with contemporary problems . . . despite the traumas, you'll whizz through it with a smile on your face
—— Oxfordshire Limited EditionKeyes's captivating 14th novel tackles difficult issues with a sparkling style that makes it impossible to put down
—— Daily MailMarian Keyes is the most wonderful writer. She just gets better and better. She is a writer who believes in the best of us. She shows people's foibles but she also shows the love that binds us together in a very real way
—— Richard OsmanHer novels tackle hard subjects with such humour and warmth its impossible not to be drawn in
—— Jane Harper , Daily MailAnother high-definition family comedy. An intoxicating, effervescent and warm look at modern life
—— MetroA delightful and insightful examination of the modern family
—— Holly Bourne , BeastmagLaughter and tears intertwine, as ever, in the latest from our leading chronicler of the emotional messiness of contemporary life
—— GuardianThe strength of this book lies in its relatability factor - I laughed, cried, nodded in recognition and laughed again
—— Irish NewsShines a light on the frustrations and gripes of family life, while inviting us to laugh at the petty reality of it all
—— London LivingA book to fall into and while away hours with
—— Writers OnlineFunny, thought-provoking and hitting you right in the feels, Marian Keyes does it again
—— Red OnlineI loved this complex family drama . . . Keyes nails every character she touches while keeping it all so relevant
—— Jamie Klingler , iNewsPraise for Marian Keyes
—— -Mercilessly funny
—— The TimesEverything this woman touches turns to comic gold
—— CosmopolitanComic, convincing and true. The warmth and empathy of Keyes's writing shine through this tale of family secrets revealed.
—— Katy Guest , GuardianClever, hilarious, poignant . . . Gloriously funny
—— Sunday TimesWildly funny, romantic and nearly impossible to put down
—— Daily MailHer writing is a lovely mixture of funny and perceptive and bittersweet
—— Cressida CowellFull of brilliantly funny characters, genuine emotion and heaps of charm
—— HeatHer books are humorous and have the quality of a warm bath
—— The TimesClassic Marian Keyes: a blizzard of wit and wisecracks
—— The TimesKeyes is an international treasure. The ultimate choice for a binge read
—— StylistWhen it comes to writing page-turners that put a smile on your face and make you think, Keyes is in a class of her own
—— Daily ExpressFabulously entertaining. The queen of intelligent women's fiction
—— Sunday MirrorFull of darkness and light, this is Keyes at her classic and most brilliant best
—— RedKeyes writes about women who are absolutely themselves, even when society tries to insist they are something else
—— Irish TimesGlorious, life-affirming
—— Woman & HomeMarian's glorious, warm-hearted wit is always guaranteed to make me laugh on the very first page
—— Liane MoriartyThere is no finer writer than Marian Keyes
—— Rowan ColemanShe really is unparalleled when it comes to making serious points with the lightest of touches
—— The PoolHilariously wise
—— PrimaBrutal yet endearing honesty, wonderful humour and astonishing acumen
—— Ruth HoganKeyes writes extremely well about modern women. Candid and deeply felt
—— MetroMarian Keyes has an unparalleled talent for making you howl with laughter, nod in recognition and think at the same time
—— Sam Baker , Good HousekeepingAlways brilliant - and brilliantly funny
—— BestA publishing sensation
—— Daily ExpressThere are few fiction writers today with as much verve and sense of independence as Marian Keyes
—— Daily Telegraph