Last Orders, Graham Swift

I really liked this, it is unassuming and isn't dramatic, even though the subject matter means you're half expecting some big revelation. Last Orders is about a group of men who go to Margate to carry out their friend Jack's last wish of having his ashes scattered into the sea from Margate pier. The friends don't really understand why he wants to be scattered there (or at all) but do it anyway. Along the way we learn about Jack and the group of friends.

I feel the lack of a big revelation or drama is the novel's strength though. It describes ordinary lives, parts of which are quite remarkable though they are generally quite drab. It's written in very distinctive voices, you get a sense of personalities through actions and other character's opinions, not descriptions.
Perhaps because of this there is a feeling always of something beneath the surface - like interacting with people in reality, not everything is explained.

It's a little still, and not uplifting, but I really enjoyed it and it's no worse for not being glittery. Next I'm reading the controversial A Death in the Family by Karl Ove Knausgaard