The Other Family, By Joanna Trollope

Joanna Trollope's new novel addresses a very contemporary problem – what happens when death fails to take into account the complex living arrangements of modern life.

Highgate-based mother of three, Chrissie Kelsey, finds herself struggling financially when her long-time partner, Richie, a successful lyricist, dies of a heart attack.

To make matters worse, he's left his grand piano and the rights to his early hits to his first wife, Margaret, and their grown-up son, Scott.

Moving between London and Newcastle, Trollope explores the fall-out of one man's administrative oversight on the lives of two women and and their progeny.

Naturalistic conversation and clued-up observation make this elegantly framed litany of familial woes a consoling read.