Ah, but my parents could be - not lovable, exactly, but certainly affectionate, when they wanted to be. They had high standards. Mostly the problem was that they never really wanted to be parents. They wanted children fully-formed, I think. So we never knew whether we were going to get the version of our parents who petted us and gave us rewards, or the version of our parents who sent us to our rooms without supper.

But if you think you can't disappoint even when you're dead, you obviously haven't listened to my mother's portrait lately. I don't know, though. Your parents may not ever forgive you for your choices but - they do genuinely love you. That makes a difference. I'm not sure my parents ever really did love us, not the same way.

And it most certainly was my job to try to save Reg. I was his big brother.