Lost Between Houses

David E. Kemp, a former drama professor at Queen’s University, is the
author of The Pleasures and Treasures of the United Kingdom.

Lost Between Houses, by the novelist and broadcast journalist David
Gilmour, is a tragicomic story of coming of age and unsuccessful first
love set within the context of a family falling apart. The novel’s
main protagonist is 16-year-old Simon who is experiencing more than the
usual adolescent difficulties: his sophisticated mother wants him to be
her best friend (when she’s not totally distracted, that is); his
girlfriend is out of his league but likes the rebel nature he displays;
and he’s trying to be the “good son” his father wants him to be
(when his father is not in a mental institution, that is).

Part sensitive youth and part malapert, immature kid, Simon is a truly
unforgettable character; we like him at one moment and dislike him the
next. Gilmour expertly blends sarcasm, grief, awe, laughter, and pathos
into his keenly observed story of lives in turmoil and produces a climax
that is nothing short of shattering.