Dear Michael, Love Dad, Iain Maitland
Dear Michael, Love Dad, Iain Maitland
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Dear Michael, Love Dad
Letters, laughter and all the things we leave unsaid.

Author: Iain Maitland

Narrator: Michael Simkins

Unabridged: 8 hr 30 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/28/2016


Synopsis

Letters, Laughter and all the things we leave unsaid...

'wonderful, moving, humorous... extremely poignant' Charlie Mortimer, Dear Lupin

Dear Michael,

Moving your whatnots et al into the flat has put paid to any improvements in my back. Still, at least it's done now.Your mother is already worrying how you'll cope and is at work on reams of notes on all sorts of matters from how to tell if meat has gone off to washing whites. Smell it and wear black is my advice. Please do try to master the can opener and other basics before calling. You know how she worries.

When Iain Maitland's eldest son left home for university he wrote regularly to him; funny, curmudgeonly letters chronicling their family life and giving Michael unsolicited and hopeless advice on everything from DIY to women. He never expected a reply - they were simply his way of continuing their relationship. What Iain didn't realise was that away from home his beloved boy was suffering from depression and anorexia. Only much later did it become apparent to Iain and his wife just how oblivious they had been, and for how very long.

Told through Iain's letters and the unfolding reality of Michael's situation, Dear Michael, Love Dad forces us to question how well we can ever truly know our loved ones, but most of all expresses the unbreakable bond between a father and son.

About Iain Maitland

Iain Maitland has been a professional writer since 1987. He has written over 50 books, mainly on business, and been published as far away as Russia, India, Japan, USA and Australia. He has also written for the Sunday Times, Which? and the Financial Times amongst many others.


Reviews

This is such a weird book, it's hard to know how to review it. Basically it's a series of letters from Iain Maitland to his son Michael. Michael develops anorexia and depression over the course of the correspondence. The emphasis is all on Iain, the father, whose jolly and humorous letters dominate t......more

Very disappointing. Seriously. It's not very often I finish a book and rate it less than 3 stars. I enjoy a story and books, every book, provides at least that. But this one never takes flight. It taxis' and taxis' and taxis' on and around the frigin' runway until it's the 11th hour, time for take o......more

Goodreads review by Rachel

Enjoyable and heartfelt. I read the letters Iain write to his son and then read his internal thoughts and feelings towards them and thought it was clear that Iain was beating himself up regarding his considered failings as a father and family. Honest although quite awkward at stages, overall, I enjo......more

Goodreads review by Phil

Although there was a lot of humour in this book, I found it quite a gruelling read. The contrast of Iain's jokey, flippant letters and his son Michael's slow descent into depression and anorexia was painful. Many times I winced at Iain's repeated references to weight, his jokes about mental illness......more