Astrid isn’t totally broken yet. But if a window could throw a brick at itself to test itself that’s what she’ll do, she’ll break herself, Magnus thinks, then she’ll test how sharp she is by using her own broken pieces on herself. Everybody at this table is in broken pieces which won’t go together, pieces which are nothing to do with each other, like they all come from different jigsaws, all muddled together into one box by some assistant who couldn’t care less in a charity shop or wherever the place is that old jigsaws go to die. Except jigsaws don’t die.

This is my favourite Ali Smith novel (so far). It looks at storytelling, the ways in which different people read the world be it through a camera lens, equations, literature, films or other people’s life stories. This strained, uncommunicative family begin to see themselves through the eyes of a stranger, Amber, who turns up in their holiday home uninvited and shakes up their lives.

Every character in this book feels real - they could hop straight from the page and I wouldn’t question their validity. They are complex, riddled with insecurities, flaws and secrets, and, while I didn’t always agree with let alone like them, I loved reading about them. I particularly loved all of the recurring motifs throughout the book, such as the use of cameras and recording things, as well as storytelling as a whole.

I’m so glad I gave Ali Smith another chance (I really wasn’t taken with Girl Meets Boy), and I look forward to reading more of her work.