Sadly, I read this book the same week it was announced that fertility levels in Britain were at a record low. All of which means that this book is apposite. Thousands – tens of thousands – of people are going through, or will go through, the horrors of *trying* for a baby. Where sex ceases to be joyful but is a carefully timed and monitored event.

Ben Elton is a brilliant writer. He’s witty, intelligent, empathetic, and untouched by a desire to please a focus group. The heart-rending story maps the twin narrative of husband and wife as they navigate the NHS, private medicine, medical interventions, and their friends.

But, this horror story isn’t written as a train crash. It is written as an intensely human story of a commonplace experience.

A novel by Elton guarantees wit. And this lightens the mood. I was moved and entertained by this novel and firmly recommend it.