I'd put it on my TBR list eons ago and couldn't remember why... and the book was not at all what I expected. But I utterly enjoyed it. Banks made his name with SciFi, written as Iain M. Banks. But this story unfolded well and good on this planet. It's about a large and wealthy Scottish family that has made oodles for generations from a game not unlike Monopoly. An American firm wants to buy them out. The story centers on a family black sheep, Alban, who moves through flashbacks of his childhood and his obsession with cousin Sophie as he comes to term with feelings for family, his role in the business and his love life.

Nothing deep nor particularly literary, just an engaging-enough plot, good humor, gorgeous settings and family secrets enough to keep the pages quickly turning. A true summer book. If I lived in a place that experienced summer, that is