Volume 1: Oxford, England, 1920. Professor Bone, a linguist, and his live-in secretary, Valentine, welcome home the professor's son, Ludy, who has just been released from prison. This is a story of the differences between a father and son of different types, and the everyday and extraordinary life of the secretary who connects the two.
(Translator: DeepL (corrected))
On the same day of Ludy's release from prison in 1920s England, his linguistics-professor father has his work stolen by his anonymous client, bringing to light that he has been under surveillance following his codebreaking activities during the war. Despite their strained relationship, Ludy appoints himself his father's bodyguard, while the professor's live-in secretary, Valentine, keeps an eye on them both and learns more about the family she spends her days with.
I found this challenging but fun to read. There is no furigana, and a good chunk of the dialogue is in hand-written asides. Ludy, who has the most dialogue, also speaks very roughly in a way that was sometimes difficult to parse, but was good practice and felt rewarding to work out. Aside from the actual level of the language, comprehension was made more difficult by the fact that speech bubbles are often ambiguously placed so it's not clear who's speaking, and some jarring scene transitions also make it unclear when/where things are happening and which characters are supposed to be present.
I'm a sucker for family relationships, so I found this book incredibly charming. As mentioned above, there are lots of instances where it's hard to figure out who is saying what, or where scenes suddenly change, or where characters appear out of nowhere, making it difficult to follow what's going on. But regardless, the cast is likeable with good chemistry and the mood is light, making it a fun read. The story doesn't take itself too seriously, so though I wouldn't go as far as to call it a comedy, it definitely embraces the potential for silliness in each situation and takes advantage of it to show off the characters' personalities and make their weird little family endearing.