The Descendants, By Kaui Hart Hemmings

A descendant of one of Hawaii's largest landowners, Matt King finds himself swimming in deep water after his fun-loving wife, Joanie falls into a coma following a boating accident.

Left in sole charge of his two daughters, he is forced to wake up to all kinds of new realities – including the fact that Joanie was having an affair. When he decides that he must find his dead wife's lover, Matt and his girls embark on an idiosyncratic road journey.

Despite the tropical setting, Hemmings's prose style remains admirably unheated. This is a coolly comic and moving debut that plots a father's attempts to navigate a far from scenic route home.

Click here to purchase this book