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, Audiobook, Family, Literature, Adult Fiction

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

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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!

[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

[Stella · 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 “Lolita” 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.

[thecriticalreader · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

Charming characters and a forgiving moral sensibility save Ben Brooks’s The Greatest Possible Good from being another stale wealthy dysfunctional family drama.

Did you know that one hundred British pounds could pay for one-fiftieth of a British seeing eye dog’s training, or save one thousand African children from blindness through vitamin supplementation? Teenager Evangeline Candlewick shares this fact with her uninterested family at the dinner table in a futile attempt to rally them to the cause of effective altruism, which encourages people to use their time and resources to advance the greatest possible worldly good. Her exhortations fall on deaf ears, however, as each of her family members is preoccupied with their own concerns. Although wealthy, her mother worries about raising enough money to shield her children from any future trouble or upheaval. Her father feels alienated from his wife, and her brother, Emil, seeks escape from life through recreational drug use and mathematics. Everything changes when her father, Arthur, falls down a mineshaft with his son’s confiscated LSD and Evangeline’s book about effective altruism. He emerges from the experience a changed man, fully converted to effective altruism. His decision to spend his fortune on charity and devote his life to good causes leaves his family in disarray as they struggle to make sense of their lives.

Wealth is an understandably popular thing to write about because it’s a source of wonder and splendor but also greed and suffering; our hatred for the rich is tinged with envy. The characters in The Greatest Possible Good are not dysfunctional because of their money, but their money does fuel their dysfunction. Like many characters in similar novels, they spend their money on outrageous coping mechanisms rather than a much-needed therapist. I found this book to be captivating in the beginning, but my attention flagged through the bulk of the middle as the characters make themselves miserable and refuse to communicate. Brooks generally avoids confronting the thematic questions he sets forth head; instead, he lets the narrative brush gently against them as the plot lurches and stalls. He lingers on small moments while rushing through major life events like divorce, marriage, and pregnancy, leading to an odd pacing throughout.

Still, Brooks has a gift for writing compelling scenes and raising interesting questions even if he doesn’t always provide neat and tidy resolutions. The characters, for all their infuriating flaws, are also deeply charming in a way that makes The Greatest Possible Good a mostly pleasant reading experience, and the ending provides an optimistic, if gently ambivalent, answer to the characters’ woes.

[Emily (The Litertarian) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most people do not live their lives according to their own values. They say they do, they say they support certain things or care about them, but they never actually adjust their behavior. It's not easy to retain your convictions. To honor your beliefs. It takes courage, and sometimes radical and uncomfortable change. For Arthur Candlewick, it took a traumatic brain injury. A hard reset. And it changed everything.

This novel is an interesting study of relationships, moral philosophy, materialism vs. charity, familial responsibility, and this crazy thing we call life in general.

Each of the characters is complex and in some ways, contradictory, even to themselves. In other ways, they were steady and immovable, usually to their own detriment.

Arthur's change in personality after his accident broke their family apart. His wife Yara could not reconcile his new self with the man she married and for their two children, teenagers at the time, the fracture was a formative experience.

What is there to say about a novel like this one, except to read it for yourself? It isn't necessarily an easy read, though it's not heavy or difficult quite either. The thing it will demand of you is your full attention. It will make you think, and to face your own thinking. Emil (the son) is one of the most thoughtful and considered characters I may have ever read. Sometimes things are black and white, but both the black and the white have larger implications, and it is always useful to explore them.

You will take out of this book what you put into it, and I absolutely love that.

Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

For more book reviews, visit my blog thelitertarian.com.

[Mario Mirabelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Superb tale of ten years in the life of a well to do family outside of London. The Candlewick family seems like the perfect family; a father who is successful in business, a mother who has retired from a computer company and two children two years apart. We find the family when their children are fifteen and seventeen and the father is about to sell his wood business for over two million pounds. Evie wants to save the most unfortunate of the world, and her brother, Emil, is incredibly smart but does dabble in recreational drugs. Upon finding Emil's stash, the family have a tense dinner when it is decided to "sleep on it" and go to their respective corners.
Arthur decides to get in his car and go for a ride and a long walk instead. Unfortunately Arthur falls down a fifty foot abandoned shaft and breaks a lot of bones as well as not being found for three days. After spending time in the hospital broken legs and arm and a serious gash on his head, Arthur returns home and recovers. Soon enough, Arthur has fully recovered and has a slightly noticeable change in demeanor. All testing reveals he is healthy and fine, but unbeknown to his family, Arthur has decided to give away to charity the sale proceeds of his business.
The old saying about you can't judge a book by its cover fits the Candlewick family before, and definitely after the fall. Over the course of the next ten years, hijinks/life ensues.
This story is about every and any family that exists and is worth spending time with.

[ReaderSP · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the latest book sent to me by my online book club, WellRead. I had never read anything by Ben Brooks before so I was excited to discover a new author.

The main characters are the Candlewick family, a dysfunctional but wealthy family, consisting of Evangeline, a high school activist, Emil, a math prodigy experimenting with drugs, Yara, a paranoid mother, and Dad Arthur, the founder and director of a timber business.
We join them as Arthur decides to take a walk in the woods, taking a bottle of wine, his son's LSD and his daughter's book on the concepts of effective altruism. He falls into an abandoned mineshaft where he remains undetected 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 liked this book and I liked the Candlewick family. I enjoyed their dysfunctionality and the humour Brooks gave the situation. The book flows well and I enjoyed the longer timespan it covered. The humour was there but I didn’t find it laugh out loud, the characters were a bit cliche if I think about it; drug use, depression etc but maybe this represents real people and it was handled well. I felt that subjects like dying, death and grief were treated respectfully and honestly with a rawness and care.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It didn’t jump out and grab me or have me hooked but it was a pleasant read.

[Daniel Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Focuses on the British family, the Candlewicks. Arthur and his wife Yara have two teenage children, daughter Evangeline and son Emil. Their comfortable life is thrown into disarray when Arthur has a terrible accident. This unexpected event with lead to a transformation in Arthur, his relationship with this family and his relationship with his accumulated wealth.

I was drawn to pick this book up because of the comparisons made with it to the recent Paul Murray book "The Bee Sting". That comparison was an apt one. I enjoyed this a great deal. The whole was much greatest then the sum of its parts. The four main characters in Ben Brooks' book are all dysfunctional and adrift to varying degrees. I was initially turned off by their more unpleasant character traits, but over the course of the book's length, I became deeply invested in the fate of the four Candlewick family members. Brooks' writing was both unique and affecting. Portions of the later stages of the novel, especially those between Arthur Candlewick and his two children, moved me a great deal. This is a book that I will be thinking about for a some time to come.

[Jennifer ~ TarHeelReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Filled with razor-sharp wit, The Greatest Possible Good is coined a “tragicomedy,” and that it is. The Candlewicks are uber wealthy. Emil and Evangeline are teens, and their parents are Yara and Arthur. Everything changes for the family when Arthur falls into a mineshaft and is left there for days.

When Arthur is rescued, he is renewed in a shocking way. Instead of collecting wealth, he wants to serve his community more. His actions are unsettling to his family and all who know him.

What I loved most is how this book thoughtfully addresses wealth given our current climate, and juxtaposes that with questions about being a good, contributing member of society. It’s powerful in understated ways, and the bits of humor tossed in were refreshing. I also loved how the Candlewicks are just as dysfunctional as the rest of us. That always makes for good reading.

I received a gifted copy.

Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader

[Rebecca Larsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of those books that creeps up on you; when you turn the last page you realise it was just a really great read and you'd learnt some things and taken away some lessons.

AGAIN WITH THE HALF STARS!! 4.5/5

What happens when you take a walk, fall down a mineshaft and 4 days later, after being rescued, give away all your worldly goods and only do charitable deeds for the rest of your life? How does this affect the people around you? What do you have to show at the end of your life?

Written over the course of a decade (or so), The Greatest Possible Good follows the lives of Arthur, Yara, Emil and Evangeline as they all grapple with life and the fallout of Arthur's sudden change of attitude. The storyline is meandering and peaceful, but the life lessons really raised some points of discussion in my family. It is a great, comfortable read. I didn't really want it to end.

[Julie Hudson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for the advanced reading copy.

What would you do if your stable, wealthy, nuclear family lifestyle took a dramatic change of direction when one of the breadwinners decides to give all his fortune to effective altriuism without your knowledge?

In The Greatest Possible Good, for Arthur Candlewick a fall down a disused mineshaft leads to a rethinking of what's important in life and the collapse of their family life. Wife Yara thinks he has sustained some sort of cataclysmic head injury and cannot accept what he has done.

This is a story of family relationships, wealth inequality told with wry humour.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Debdanz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was so excited about this book, but the author lost me at page 185. And it is amazing I made it so far. I wanted to like this book- it was a great thought experiment and had so much potential, but none of the characters are even remotely interesting or likable despite their "stellar and amazing" intelligence.

Poor Mr. Brooks. Either he wrote what he knew, and how depressing and unfulfilling a life he must have. Or he didn't and should have.

[Riley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This satirical story follows the Candlewick family whose lives are turned upside down when the father, Arthur, goes missing and falls into an abandoned mineshaft. This incident alters his personality and spurs him to donate their entire wealth to charities - creating chaos and dysfunction within the family.

The satire was fun, but this book wasn’t for me and was a bit too slow for my liking.

[Ido]

Candlewicks are a priveleged bunch, until Arthur Candlewick comes to a realisation.
Will they survive out of wealth?
Subtle, witty, and with hilarious dialogue, this is an enjoyable book with great subtext.
Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.
Brooks’ writing is vivid, original, and timely.

[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 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.

[Shannon Harrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a real long read for me. I really went through the motions, did I hate this or love it? Idk

Real emotionally intelligent read, with a bunch of satire, some didn’t really cut that deep though.

I learnt to love the characters and the moral messages of their lives!!

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read, with both humorous and poignant moments interspersed between relatable character profiles. Did it make me examine my own life? Maybe a little, but only with a light nudge and not in an overbearing way. Enjoyable

[Jackson Garrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Greatest Possible Good was an entertaining tale of a family, each character with their own story to follow. I’d recommend this book to someone who wants to learn some new words, laugh, and take away some meaningful messages.

[Benedict Ness 📚 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A real privilege to read, Bens are the best. I hope to talk to this writer!

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting a
Book, rather madcap and enjoyable.
Story of Arthur wanting to do the greatest possible good with his money.