It’s 1979 and Anton Winter has just returned to his home in New York after 18 months in the Peace Corp. Struck down by malaria while in Africa, his re-entry into everyday life is somewhat traumatic.

However, the Winter family are no strangers to turmoil. Anton’s father is Buddy Winter – a peer of Johnny Carson and up until recently the host of The Buddy Winter Show. On the brink of a nervous breakdown, Buddy left the set mid show one night and went off travelling for three months in an attempt to ‘find himself’.

This has certainly ruffled some feathers, and now that Buddy has returned and is regrouping, he looks to Anton for company and direction.

Despite venturing off on his own and joining the Peace Corp, Anton has always defined himself by his famous father and worked on set with him from a very early age. Their co-dependency becomes apparent when Buddy decides he wants to return to TV but has to convince the TV executives to allow it. And so he begins networking, lunching and finds he might have to sell out on his dreams to get to the end goal. The real question becomes, can Anton help his dad fulfil his dreams and achieve his own?

The backdrop to all of this is the famous Dakota building where the Winter family live. Their neighbours are John Lennon and Yoko Ono, they socialise with the Kennedy family and are friends with Leonard Bernstein.

New York in ’70s is an exciting place to be and, while The Dakota Winters is a work of fiction, it certainly feels like you’re being given a behind-the-scenes tour of the rich, famous and eccentric.

The mixing of historical events – including one of the most tragic of the time – and figures with a fictional plot are seamless. Readers who are interested in the time period, celebrity New York and a glimpse (even if fictional) behind the scenes, will enjoy this book.

Atmospheric and aspirational – imagine sailing to Bermuda with John Lennon – I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it.

Reviewed by Melissa Wilson