My Mum's from Planet Pluto

The playful title of Rees’s novel – and its equally playful cover design – may well prepare a reader for something rather different from what lies within its pages. Initially, it seems as if the plot will focus on the embarrassment to which, according to 12-year-old Daniel, he will be subjected when his mother becomes principal of his new secondary school. When, however, we are informed of her history of psychiatric illness and when that illness returns (she insists on abandoning her medication), we realise that Daniel’s problems are more real and more painful than his worst imaginings. While Rees moves her readers towards the resolution of these problems with some skill and some humour, the final impression is of a novel lacking in overall consistency of tone or purpose.