Two Mums and a Dad
Reviewed By Janet Mawdesley August 31, 2021
Author Toby Roberts
Distributor: Bad Apple Press
ISBN: 9780648780793
Publisher: Bad Apple Press
Release Date: June 2021
Website: https://badapplepress.com.au
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Charming, heartwarming, filled with love and fun Toby Roberts shares his life growing up in an anything but conventional 1980’s middle class suburban household in Two Mums and a Dad.
When Toby was young, growing up in a household with a father who was often somewhat bemused by parenthood and a mother who was attracted more to the feminine than the masculine, seemed pretty normal. The addition of two young female friends of his mother to the home, while it raised mild interest, really did not cause the wider family to miss a beat.
Over time the pressure this alternate lifestyle placed on the family unit created change, which eventually lead to his parents separating, his mother moving in with a new partner, his father moving to a penthouse suite in Sydney. Toby and his siblings had to now learn to accept a new style of household, one with two mothers; Caro the new partner who Toby never really accepted, his sister Ren, always the peacemaker accepted and the youngest brother Josh, simply too young to understand the change.
Time, puberty, challenge and conflict saw Toby’s behavior at school and home deteriorate which simply added to the already difficult family situation.
Like his older brother Marc, Toby was always seeking love and approval from his often remote father, which saw teen years spent deliberately breaking the rules, choosing not fit the expected norm, floating along doing as little as possible at school knowing full well he was intelligent and this would see him through the exams.
Toby talks of his troubled beginnings with his youngest brother Josh, from the perspective of being uprooted from the perch of the youngest and favored child of three, his concern for his brother Marc whose life was one of conflict with his father before moving into the serious world of drugs and alcohol, his sister Ren the peacemaker of the family and Josh, whom through it all remained his usually placid, well balanced self.
A subtle and definite raconteur, Toby Roberts tells of a life that was far from the standard middle class suburban family of the 1980’s, during a time when same sex couples were taboo, with a light touch to form a most enjoyable read about the puberty years upon which we can all look back with a decided cringe, at the careless acceptance, rejection and totally self-centered nature of the puberty years.
Two Mums and a Dad is a terrific read full of chuckles, light hearted g family moments, deep and destructive issues within the family unit all laced together with candor, a wry sense of humour and an ongoing love and acceptance of his family members.