It's December 1963 when Billy Hopkins and his wife Laura arrive home in Manchester after five years in Africa. The world they left behind has changed beyond now, it's the swinging sixties, with headlines full of the Beatles and the pill, LSD and mini skirts.Billy's youngest son still believes in Santa Claus and while his daughter's reading Jackie, she's not even a teenager yet, so Billy's not too worried about the impact of modern society on his family. He's more concerned about the welfare of his increasingly forgetful father and about the daily (and sometimes exquisitely humorous) challenges he faces as a college lecturer. When the four junior Hopkins start to choose their own, unexpected paths in life, though, Billy finds it harder than usual to see the funny side of things…ANYTHING GOES brings readers close to a warm and loving family who somehow get through all their ups and downs without ever losing their sense of humour.
A thoroughly enjoyable read from start to finish. I really felt like I became part of the family after 50 pages or so, I loved the humorous antics of the kids and was intrigued at how one man's life and family could be so interesting and yet so normal and familiar at the same time. I'll definitely be reading more of Billy's books in the future.
The author has a very simple style and at first he appears to have strung together a list of cliche's about the 60's and the items and culture available in the UK at that time period. The choices of the children of the main character echo the cliche's but all in all it is a benign read, quite vanilla. Though one respects the author for his abilities in writing and in telling his semi-autobiography