The last event I attended at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on Monday was Maggie O’Farrell in conversation with Hannah Beckerman. The discussion during the first half focused on her latest novel This Must Be The Place which I read last year while the second half explored her new book and first work of non-fiction ‘I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes With Death’ which is published in the UK this week. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Maggie O’Farrell
Edinburgh Book Festival: I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O’Farrell
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This Must Be The Place by Maggie O’Farrell
‘This Must Be The Place’ by Maggie O’Farrell tells the story of Daniel Sullivan, an American linguistics professor living in a remote farmhouse in Donegal with his reclusive ex-film star wife Claudette, their two children and Claudette’s son from a previous relationship. When Daniel learns that an ex-girlfriend died shortly after they split up in the 1980s, he sets out to discover what happened to her all those years ago, even if it risks destroying his struggling marriage. Continue reading
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Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O’Farrell
Set in North London at the height of the heatwave of 1976, ‘Instructions for a Heatwave’ by Maggie O’Farrell tells the story of Gretta Riordan, a devout Irish Catholic whose husband Robert goes out as usual to buy a newspaper one morning except this time he never comes back. Their three grown-up children, Robert, Monica and Aoife return to help their mother but soon discover that Gretta may know more about his whereabouts than she first admits. Continue reading
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Other Books I Read In 2013 But Didn’t Review
When I first started this blog, I reviewed more or less everything I read in the order that I read them. However, I am no longer quite so organised. I still review the majority of the books I read but this year, I read quite a few other books which I didn’t write about on my blog for the following reasons: Continue reading
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The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O’Farrell (and some musings on book covers)
Winner of the Costa Novel Award in 2010, ‘The Hand That First Held Mine’ by Maggie O’Farrell features two alternating narratives. The first one is set in the 1950s and tells the story of Lexie, a young woman who runs away to start a new life in the Soho area of London and falls in love with Innes Kent, a magazine editor. The second is set in the present day and tells the story of Elina, a young Finnish woman who has just had a baby with her partner, Ted. The two generations are linked, but how? Continue reading
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