The Greatest Possible Good

by Ben Brooks

Arthur Candlewick spends three days in a disused mine shaft with only his son’s drug stash, a book on the concept of ‘effective altruism’ and a bottle of medium-priced Bordeaux for company. When Arthur emerges, he has decided to sell the family timber business and give away his wealth to charity. His family think he has lost his mind.

His university-bound daughter, Evangeline, wants to change the world but perhaps not at the cost of her own privileged life. His son, Emil, good at maths and not much else, becomes more distant than ever. And his wife, Yara, just wants the doctor to run another brain scan on her husband.

Genres: Fiction, Family, Audiobook, Family Drama, Literary Fiction, Marriage, Literature

336 pages, Hardcover

First published July 15, 2025

About the author

Ben Brooks (born 1992 in Gloucestershire) is the author of the novels: Grow Up, Fences, An Island of Fifty, The Kasahara School of Nihilism, Upward Coast and Sadie, Lolito, Everyone Gets Eaten, and Hurra. Writing for children, he has published the Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller Stories For Boys Who Dare to Be Different, Stories For Boys Who Dare to be Different 2, Stories For Kids Who Dare to be Different, The Impossible Boy, and The Greatest Inventor. His first non-fiction book for adults, Things They Don't Want You To Know, was published by Quercus in September 2020.

He contributed the story Kimchi or a Partial List of Misappropriated Hood Ornaments to Frank Ocean's Boys Don't Cry, accompanying the release of 2016 album Blonde.

Reviews

[Brandice · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Greatest Possible Good centers around the Candlewicks, an upper-middle class nuclear family. Arthur falls into a mineshaft and after being rescued, decides to sell the family’s timber business and give away most of their money. His wife, Yara, is not happy. His children include an aspiring activist daughter and a math prodigy son who is experimenting with drugs.

I wanted to see the story through although I didn’t like any of the characters, and especially disliked Yara. While the story offered things to consider, it’d be a stretch to say I enjoyed it and I recognize a lot of that is due to the characters. I thought The Greatest Possible Good was “fine”.

[Karen Axnick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many sources describe this as funny, but I confess I missed the humor in this novel. Yes, there was an occasional subtle wit woven into the prose, but for the most part this story describes an incredibly dysfunctional collection of characters who are plodding through life.

The Candlewicks appear successful by conventional standards – a nuclear family of four, a beautiful home, two successful careers, significant wealth, and two teenagers in prestigious schools. When Arthur, the father, wanders off one night and falls into an abandoned mine shaft he experiences an epiphany with the help of his daughter’s book on social responsibility, his son’s drugs, and the absence of food a water for three days. Upon his rescue, he is determined to share his resources by giving away most of his money to charitable organizations that demonstrate efficacy in their efforts to serve the greater good. The only problem? Arthur undertakes all this unilaterally – to the dismay and outrage of his wife who is now responsible for the welfare of the family. The storyline then follows the decline of the family in a somber and sorrowful manner with little redemption in the end.

The novel raises some interesting questions about the inequality of wealth distribution and its impact on the well-being of the poorest populations throughout the globe. I cannot say I enjoyed this book, but it was thought-provoking on multiple levels. I certainly did not find it hilarious as advertised. At best this novel is a satirical assessment of two extremes – accumulation of wealth for security and comfort contrasted with divestment of wealth to the point of poverty in the name of good.

My thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the privilege of reviewing this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

[Sadhbh O'Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5, veering to 4.75
I loved this and it managed to thread the needle of exploring big moral topics without becoming ultimately preachy. Wonderful characterisation with great pacing that genuinely made me laugh. There were elements that stretched credulity in a way that I found grating but there were plenty of points where the book surprised me. Rather than taking the more saccharine, obviously plot route it mirrored reality.

It made me tear up, I felt fury for and with the characters. It was really, really real. And the final scenes between key characters were really well done. Loved it.

[Claire Curtis · Rating 3 out of 5]

The blurb totally misled the direction of this book. I was promised a book about a man who falls into a hole (and happens to have a book about effective altruism with him) who upon being rescued gives away all of his money and his family (2kids, a wife) wrestle with the aftermath. Not so! The two kids resolutely stay on their same paths and the wife expresses her displeasure by divorcing him (and, by the way she still has plenty of money.

[Soro · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Candlewicks are a somewhat dysfunctional but wealthy family, consisting of Evangeline, a high school activist, Emil, a math prodigy experimenting with drugs, Yara, a paranoid mother, and Arthur, the neutral director of a timber business. One day, Arthur decides to take a walk in the woods, taking only a bottle of wine, his son's LSD, and his daughter's book. He falls into an abandoned mineshaft for four days, and, after he returns, he sells his company and donates almost all his money to charity, without consulting any of his family. This novel follows each family member in the ten years following Arthur's decision, examining their lives with both a realistic lens and a satirical tone.

I was really interested in this book because of its premise, and there were definitely moments that delivered on it. However, maybe it wasn't for me, because I found that the majority of it was boring and depressing. The family isn't as shaken by Arthur's decision as I'd thought they would be, and they mostly spend their lives on the same paths they were at the beginning of the book. There is some good character development, but, even then, scenes where it happened tended to be glossed over. Both quotes and the blurb on this novel mention its humor, but it wasn't that funny, it just had a witty and satirical writing style. Despite all my criticisms, I'm sure there will be people who enjoy this book, and I could definitely sell it based on its premise.

[Ric · Rating 3 out of 5]

This sounded so fun, and the concept of trying to tackle wealth inequality was a interesting idea at the heart of this one. The two extremes outlined (hoarding wealth or giving everything you possibly can away to live as frugally as possible) made for a fun dichotomy, and it made me enjoy Arthur’s storyline.

I think the problem was that I mostly hated all of the other characters and their stories, especially Yara. It was more witty and satirical and less outright funny, which I didn’t mind. I just wish some of the other characters learned literally anything.

[Nat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just a bunch of messed up people falling into physical and metaphorical holes and trying their best to clamber out of them.

It has a lot to say about privilege and what it means to be a good person and who gets to be one. I tried to do a deep dive on the book and the author and turned up absolutely nothing, which is a shame because I think it deserves to be talked about. So ty Beaufort St Books for reducing it to $20 and putting it on the table at the front, because I never would have found it otherwise and I already think it's going to be one of my favourite books of the year.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book so much more than I thought I would! The witty banter and messiness of the family throughout the story has similar family dynamics and humor like We Are the Millers and The Middle. The humor is balanced out with some heartbreaking moments. I felt ALL the emotions while reading this. The overarching story is a bit complex and dives into study of relationships, familial responsibility and materialism, which really creates for some interesting discourse. The Candlewicks are complex and oh so messy. I hated them and loved them at the same time.

[Emily St.Germain · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was marked as a comedy but I am crying??

[Billy Goulden · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. My dust jacket describes this as “incisive, warm and funny.” I’m afraid that I found it more akin to “meandering, tepid and tragic”.

What starts off as an interesting premise quickly turns into a rather boring story that has nothing to do with what is mentioned in the blurb and summaries. This book isn’t about Arthur and his life-changing epiphany about charity. It’s about his selfish family and their sad attempts to make their extremely privileged lives sound difficult.

Arthur was the only character I cared about in this book, and he’s barely in it. I didn’t care about Yara and her gym-lad boy toy. I didn’t care about Evangeline and her toxic Cambridge boyfriend and her giving birth to a child so precocious she makes Matilda sound vacuous (I genuinely started to roll my eyes every time she opened her mouth). Emil’s story was somewhat interesting, but only when he was focusing on his book - I would have much rather read that than this.

I particularly hated the pretentiousness of the Candlewick family toward Luke, looking down on his use of phrases like “it’d be such a waste to waste it”, and his pronunciation of homage (it is also pronounced hom-ij, Mr. Brooks). It just reeked of upper-class haughtiness and everything the Candlewicks secretly thought they were - better than the poor.

There are some interesting points made about moral philosophy, and any awareness of charitable organisations is sure to do some good in the world, but it’s effect on me was massively limited due to the use of an incredibly odious family and a crucially underused main character.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe 3.5? This was complicated to me but in a good way I think? Freida was my favorite character

[Lexus Jovanovski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Genuinely obsessed with the writing like the sentences are constructed perfectly but I found it to be a little boring, kind of a me problem tho.
3.5 🌟

[Emily Rayers · Rating 2 out of 5]

I shouldn’t have persevered with this one. The premise really appealed to me - as someone who literally joined an EA group and started donating a portion of my income after reading The Life You Can Save at uni, I feel like the contrast of effective altruism and a middle class lifestyle has lots of humorous potential, but despite a smattering of wit the novel is mainly depressing realism full of dysfunctional relationships. The proofreader obviously got bored too because there are several grammatical/spelling errors. I’d rather read the book that Emil was writing at the end!

[Bell Of The Books · Rating 2 out of 5]

"A splendidly funny novel" writes the author of Pineapple Street, that's displayed on the cover of my copy.

If I ever met her I must ask her, "Are we reading the same book?!"

I chose this book as it sounded promising, with a wealthy family taking center stage, a stage filled with money and privilege .
A dad who one night takes a long walk with his daughter's book about saving the world through sharing resources and his son's recently confiscated acid (drugs).

That made it sound like we'd get a front row showing of his trip and have just as much fun as he should have.
No such luck.

This was one of the worst, saddest domestic fictions I've ever wasted my time on.

It wasn't funny, anywhere, ever.

It was sad, everywhere, all over.

Dad, who I thought we'd have fun with, turned hyper vigilant about the wealth gap and gave away tons of his decades-long- worked-for wealth, causing the entire family to fall apart, turn to drugs and sadness.
He chose living the most deprived, depressing life possible, all in the name of sharing his wealth with as many as possible.
Did it make him happy? Not one bit.
He felt better about it, and said on his death bed he didn't regret his decision.
But it cost him everything.
Wife, children, safety, integrity, and dignity.

What was the point of this story.?

Are we all supposed to now feel compelled to share all we have?
Was it to inspire something? Some good-will actions?

Because it has the opposite effect on me!

We can't "save the world".

We can always do better, just not at the high cost of losing those we love most.

Worst book of my year (blah)

[Amie Derricott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Arthur Candlewick leads a privileged life. On the cusp of selling his successful business for millions of pounds, two children attending private school and the owner of a large fancy house, he really cannot think of anything more he needs in life. Until one evening, he takes a walk carrying his sons stash of drugs, a book on the concepts of effective altruism and half a bottle of mid-priced Bordeaux, and falls down a disused mineshaft. Stuck for three days, Arthur has an existential crisis and the man that comes out of the hole is not the man that fell in. While recovering from his injuries, Arthur makes the decision to give away the entirety of his wealth to charity. His family think he’s completely lost his mind. What follows is an exploration of family, the inequality of wealth and what it truly means to live a good life.

I don’t really know where to begin with this book other than saying I absolutely loved it and that I absolutely didn’t expect for it to make me cry. While there are some fairly humorous moments, these are contrasted by some absolutely heartbreaking ones. The characters are all simultaneously incredibly complex and contradictory whilst simultaneously being completely immovable, even to their own detriment. An absolutely bonkers, off the wall novel that I truly cannot find words for, other than you need to go and read this immediately.

[Eleanor · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Candlewicks are seemingly a conventional, privileged family - two successful careers, prestigious schools, an opulent home, and substantial wealth. The imperfections, however, come to the surface when Arthur Candlewick goes missing and is later discovered in an abandoned mine shaft. While waiting to be rescued, he indulges in his daughter's book on effective altruism and his son’s drug stash, resulting in an epiphany; he is now determined to distribute his wealth for the greater good. He does this, much to the dismay of his wife Yara, without informing anyone, which convinces Yara that he obtained a brain injury during his fall. We follow the complex family of four over the next decade as the conventional family dynamic fades and each encounters problems of their own.

Through witty writing and complex and contradictory characters, this book tackles inequalities, societal polarisations and the redistribution of wealth. Despite each character having considerable flaws, Ben Brooks finds the greatest possible good in each of them.

[Rachael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably more like 3.5 - I really liked how unique this premise is and how it explores big moral issues like wealth inequality and abortion. The middle of the book felt VERY slow, though. I’m not sure I liked most of the characters, either? But overall, it made me think about my own values and wonder what would happen to this messed up family.

[Meghan]

Not quite sure what to make of this one. It starts with Arthur's revelation, and then sort of follows the family falling apart and each family member falling apart, and then we jump several years and everyone is mostly fine, and what felt at the beginning like a story would explore what it means to be a good person is sort of just a story about family.

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5-3.75*

Very thought provoking - having your values and morals challenged is important, and this book does exactly that

[Bec · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strong 4.5

[Rishi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Opens with a really interesting concept, pacing is excellent in the first third, then slams to a halt. Tries to discuss Peter singer/effective altruism and does in the first third, then seems to have no new ideas, character development, or things to say in the back half. It’s an enjoyable casual read, but not nearly as interesting as it could’ve been.

It feels like a discount version of Donna tartt

[Kelly Dienes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm like everyone else in thinking... where is the humor in this book after the first couple chapters? It quickly turns into a mildly depressing story about a broken family. I DID really like each member of the Candlewick family a lot, but the story... some parts were like, why is this in here. Like when Yara goes off with that guy and his wife randomly, when there's anything to do with Alice, or the surrogacy thing at the end. Plus I didn't find it believable that Evangeline's shitty boyfriend and his weird mother just allowed her to break free of them and keep Frida without any contact with them, no strings attached?? In reality anyone like that would have made it way more difficult.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. it brought all the emotions. I laughed quite a few time but there was also sadness and frustration. it did leave me wondering how much I could give to charity and following that how well the money would be used.

definitely recommend

[Mariah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ll admit, I missed the “humour” aspect of the book (probably on me as a melancholic reader).

Honestly felt like I’ve met each of these characters in real life (or seen them in the mirror). Emil’s thoughts behind being a sibling of inconvenience to Evangeline were a touching portrayal of distant sibling relationships. Evangeline’s strong-willed drive and yet delineation from character into a controlling relationship highlights the possibility that, for many, these characters aren’t “just characters” that follow tropes, but actually do the human (failing) things you don’t want them to do.

Did all the characters realize their potential for creativity, love, compassion and authenticity because Arthur Candlewick gave up his money? I’d like that be the case.

[Catalina · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*(maybe)

Gosh, I am so torn over the rating I want to give this novel.... I feel that in many ways it was such a cliche, yet I am was emotionally manipulated into caring for the characters and even shed a tear.

The start was really good, to me it read as satire. I must admit I was laughing quietly to myself while reading the opening scene of the dinner shared by the Candlewicks. Their interests, their problems, their dysfunctionality hidden behind luxury. But then, at some point, the novel turned into a bit of a slog, which you hate because somehow you are also invested and you want to learn the fate of this characters. Talking about love-hate relationships, right?!

I do stand by the fact that this family is a walking cliche: drug abuse, depression, charitable for the sake of it rather than true conviction and the list continues(I obviously don't want to reveal everything). But in the middle of all that, some interesting concepts are being introduces for our consideration: inequality, the morality of charity, the burden of being privileged and so on. I did like the fact that Ben Brooks did not come off as overly judgmental. While privilege is in discussion here, it is not seen as the malign thing some make it to be. I liked that. And while the overall sentiment is of things resolved, a sort of happy ending, there are bits that counteract that, like death snaking in. I don't know how, lately, I've ended up reading a lot about death and grief. I have lost my father a few months ago and in many ways re-living that in the books I read, impairs my ability to think straight. I cannot give this novel 3 stars, because it almost made me cry, lol!

*Novel from NetGalley with many thanks to the publisher for the opportunity!

[Adam Helsel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m learning when it comes to contemporary novels I really love dysfunctional families as a common thread. I was very excited when I found out about this book as I’d loved “Lolito” and this was an aforementioned dysfunctional family novel.

It was on. Kinda funny, kinda sweet, kinda heartfelt. Characters kinda worked. It just felt like it wasn’t done cooking or something. I was racing to the end at one point because I was so bored then once I got there things started falling into place and I wanted to continue following these characters. Typically when multiple POV’s are involved it can be tough, especially when you are more interested in some than others. This book suffers from that as well.

That being said this book does have some tender little scenes and scrapes towards brilliance. I’m excited to see what Brooks does next.

[Estelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

For me the problem with this book was the difficulty of finding any empathy for the 4 members of the Candlewick family. What a gloomy picture of a dysfunctional family living largely isolated lives. The only thing bringing them together in the second half of the book was the ridiculously precocious Frida. This book made me reflect that it is best for male authors not to write about pregnancy choices with Evangeline’s choice being unbelievable and only possible through her entitled situation.

[Celeste · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kind of feel like this one is getting traction because of the rerelease hardcover, but it's not hitting during this time of ultra-rich flaunting their wealth. When the family learns Arthur is going to start giving away all of his earnings, which the children hope to inherit, to charities that help the less fortunate, they all seem to diverge and never come back together in the same way. Each part has a few LONG chapters set during time periods moving in a liner direction, we learn how each family member and friend feels about his choice. There were good parts but overall I felt this was a little slow and meandering for my enjoyment.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are in the mood to understand how truly excellent writing can turn what could otherwise be a fairly dreary tale of a completely dysfunctional family of generally unlikeable characters into a worthwhile, gritty and even uplifting tale, read The Greatest Good Possible.

Ben Brooks has done an amazing job.