The Greatest Possible Good by Ben Brooks
Ben Brooks brings readers into the chaotic and often very funny world of the Candlewicks, a wealthy family whose comfortable lives implode when the father, Arthur, experiences an unexpected epiphany at the bottom of an abandoned mineshaft. Having spent three days with a bottle of wine, a stash of his son’s drugs and a book on effective altruism, he emerges determined to give away the entire family fortune in the pursuit of doing the greatest possible good. This sudden transformation horrifies his wife Yara, unsettles their idealistic daughter Evangeline and baffles their withdrawn son Emil, setting off a chain of upheavals that ripple through every part of their lives.
What follows is a sharply observed and often delightfully absurd novel that explores morality, privilege and the messy gap between good intentions and actual impact. Brooks has a gift for crafting flawed but oddly endearing characters, and he balances their pettiness with moments of genuine warmth. The humour lands well, softening the philosophical weight of the questions the family’s crisis stirs up. At its heart, the book asks what it really means to live a good life and whether such a goal can be pursued without causing collateral damage. It is entertaining, thoughtful, and filled with wry observations that make the Candlewicks feel both singular and strangely familiar.
