Hornby, Nick – How to Be Good

"How to Be Good" is the third novel (after "About a Boy") written by English author Nick Hornby, which was published in 2001.
This novel probably marks a turning point in Hornby's writing: the protagonist is not, as in the previous books, an eternal child, who struggles to commit. In fact, the issue addressed concerns the problems of a middle-class couple, in which the husband has made wickedness his life partner and the wife after years of goodness is rediscovered ready for a different future.
The protagonist couple is made up of an irascible, presumptuous, opinionated man and a good woman, engaged in social matters, sensitive and available, quiet and faithful (at least until her betrayal, which radically changes the balance of power within the couple, distorting roles and situations).

This book is a subtle and ironic criticism against the do-gooders and hypocrisy of a society steeped in clichés, we have a man who overnight decides to give his children's toys to poor children, promotes adoption in the neighborhood of young misfits, brings Christmas lunch to homeless people in the streets.
And his wife is forced to face reality: it is not enough to carry out a socially useful profession to be able to define yourself as a good person.