The Barbecue at No. 9 By Jennie Godfrey

Welcome to my review of my favourite book of 2026! No, that isn’t a typo. I have been lucky enough to be sent a proof copy of Jennie Godfrey’s second novel, The Barbecue at No. 9, which will be released in February 2026, and I find it almost inconceivable that I will read anything better in the whole of next year. I certainly haven’t read anything better this year and I have read some really good books, some of which I have reviewed on here.

The Plot

The residents of Delmont Close, a new build Wimpey housing estate, are in houses arranged in a horseshoe. They all have back gardens and they all know where each other sit in the pecking order, with residents of ‘The Chalmers’ houses having 5 bedrooms, those in ‘The Eldon’ houses having 4 bedrooms and those in ‘The Terrance’ houses having 3. As a separate ranking, the tidiness of the front gardens is useful in differentiating between the houses! No. 9 is the house of the Gordons, Dad Peter, Mum Lydia, 15 year old Hanna and 11 year old David. Lydia sees herself as the leading light of the close, so she decides that in order to impress the neighbours she will invite the whole close to the barbecue of the title to mark Live Aid on July 13 1985. There is pretty much a full turnout on the day, and it turns out to be a day when many of the secrets that are hidden beneath the veneer of suburban respectability are going to be revealed, completely changing the lives of a number of the residents.

The Characters

Hanna is the central character and we see a lot of the events that unfold through her eyes. She is 15 and seems to trust only her best friend Rosie, who has been with her since Primary School, and her dog Prince. Even then, she keeps her counsel and will not tell Rosie exactly what is happening, however much she wants to. We know that she is a goth in the way she dresses, but she has not truly left behind the music of her childhood, still listening to the Top 40. Music is quite central to her story but it often exposes her confusion rather than her certainty. In a very telling aside, we learn that her first record was Under the Moon of Love, (As a Showaddywaddy fan I would say that’s a very solid choice!) but she has rewritten her own story to say it was Blondie. This rewriting is what we often do as teenagers, and it’s perfectly observed.

Lydia is one of those Queen Bees of any community to whom appearance is everything. We learn that she wants as many indicators of success in her home as possible. So there is the state of the art TV, the brand new kitchen appliances, though not a dishwasher as her ever competitive sister-in-law Beverley points out, and the barbecue in the garden. She cannot abide mismatched cutlery, crockery or glassware. She has opinions about everyone else in the close because she sees what is going on in their lives. Events over the course of July 13 will prove that she has missed a lot of what is going on in her own life.

Peter finds that life both in and out of the house is becoming increasingly unfamiliar, confusing and worrying. He has the very traditional breadwinner role that allows Lydia to live in the manner in which she feels she deserves, but Lydia’s spending is starting to reach levels he isn’t comfortable with and he wonders how, or if, he can tell her to rein it in. His relationship with Hanna has changed and he misses the closeness they had before.

Rita is a single woman, no doubt divorced according to Lydia, who has moved to Delmont Close to find suburban anonymity. Her previous relationship was unhappy and she is still looking over her shoulder in case the ghosts of that relationship somehow find her. She is reluctant to mix with the rest of the close, but the barbecue seems to be a way in which she can at least get the measure of everyone. Next door to her are Davina and her three daughters. Davina is a free spirit in the way that Rita can only dream of. She is open about the fact that all three of her daughters have different fathers and that none of them are in the picture. Despite this, they are a loving, happy unit with a positive approach to life and an openness to other people that encourages Rita to take the first step towards becoming part of the community.

Steve is a Falklands veteran who suffers the lasting effects of PTSD following the sights and sounds of conflict. He is sent into fight or flight mode by loud noises of any kind and stays inside the house, mainly in his room, as it is the only place where he feels any measure of safety. He watches the comings and goings in the neighbourhood and takes notes. This is not a voyeuristic pastime, it is an extension of his military training which has taught him to assess danger by knowing exactly what is going on around him. His mother Tina tries to persuade him to leave the house, or at least his room, but with little success. She worries about him constantly but on the outside she tries to keep her worries secret. It turns out that Steve’s notetaking may need to be augmented by contact with the neighbours, but can he really attend the barbecue at No. 9?

My Thoughts

To give you some idea how much of a page turner this book is, I started it at about 3.30 on Thursday afternoon and I had finished it by 7.00 on Friday morning! At the end of every chapter you need to find out what will happen next, not because of a succession of cliff hangers, although they are there and they are very good, but because you genuinely care about the characters. In particular, you will find yourself willing Hanna to work through her problems, Rita to find her confidence and Steve to overcome his demons. The secrets when they are revealed come as a total surprise, but, when you think about it, you realise each one was hinted at or had the seed planted much earlier in the story. It’s a mark of Jennie Godfrey’s confidence in her writing that she doesn’t rush to reveal those secrets, and when they are revealed they have realistic and logical consequences. As with The List of Suspicious Things, these are real people leading real lives in extremis. The use of Live Aid as a framing device is genius because it fixes the action into a day that so many of us remember so well. When Ultravox are singing, when U2 are playing, and when Freddie Mercury and Queen are stealing the show you can instantly place the events going on around it in the context of time, place and culture. This makes the events so much more real and so much more impactful. I have not read many books where I have related to so many characters instantly in the way I did here. As this is a spoiler free review I have not revealed any of the main events, but that will make it better for you as you will have the sheer pleasure of discovering the story as it unfolds. Jennie Godfrey is simply an astonishing writer and she has written two books, both of which have instantly become all time favourites of mine. If you haven’t yet discovered one of the UKs best authors you are in for a real treat.

A huge thank you to Hutchinson Heinmann for their generosity in sending me this proof.