Things to Do Indoors

by Sheena Joughin

Sisterly sharing goes beyond the pale when 26-year-old Chrissie finds a postcard from her boyfriend to her sister signed, “Kisses, Nick.” Within moments, she severs her two central relationships, looking boldly forward to the haphazard pleasures of an independent life. Her lyrical journey takes her through the pubs, parties, patisseries, and rackety flats of London to the shores of Lisbon, Ireland, and Brighton.

298 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2003

Reviews

[Lizzy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Long time to read was due to boredom with her to be honest. I kept mixing up the chaps in this as well, which didn't help.

[Rachel Sanderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

"He asked me then what I cared about, anyway, scanning a photograph of Bobby Kennedy on the wall to our right, smiling and carelessly handsome. Taped country music started up, too soft to hear but too loud to ignore. I pushed my peanuts into groups of three and remembered asking my sister what she cared about once, when she appeared not to care about me.
‘Myself,’ I told Jamie, ‘like everyone else does.’"

It’s the 1980s. Chrissie is twenty-something, living in London, working as a barmaid. When she discovers her sister Isla has been sleeping with Nick, Chrissie’s boyfriend, and that Isla is now pregnant, Chrissie cuts both of them out of her life, although they are the two people who mean the most to her. The story moves from Lisbon to London to Ireland, through lovers and friends and passing acquaintances, as Chrissie tries to figure out who she is in the absence of Isla and Nick, and what she should do with herself.
'Things to do indoors' is told from Chrissie’s point of view in a voice that is funny, bittersweet and honest. You feel you get to know her so well, and come to love her for all her flaws. For a lot of the novel she drifts, rootless and without any particular direction, but despite that I absolutely couldn’t put the book down. Chrissie is unable to avoid the tangles of other people’s lives. She also can’t change the fact of her love for her sister and Nick, despite what they have done.
One of the things that struck me most about this story was how Chrissie grew and changed and how this was shown through the way her voice and perspective changed. This was done with great delicacy and felt very real.
Some famous author’s advice, which I’ve often heard repeated, is that a novel should be ‘life with the dull parts taken out’. This doesn’t mean that there should be nothing small or ordinary in a story, but that the things that are small and ordinary must have the power to move the reader. In this book they do.
I loved Things to do indoors. The writing is gorgeous, and Chrissie is a character who will stay with me for a long time. I’ve never been to London and I suspect if you know the city you’d appreciate it on a whole other level too, but for me, it didn’t matter.

[Bev · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed it. Good subject matter ( relationships!) but was pretty far fetched in parts and sometimes didnt flow well. Loved the chapter about the mums meeting for tea - brought back a few bad memories for me!