About the book… Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family’s Mississippi River shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the hospital one stormy night, Rill is left in charge—until strangers arrive in force. Wrenched from all that is familiar and thrown into … Continue reading March 2020: Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
About the book… An eerily mystic tale of a mute child who captivates the local townspeople after she’s seemingly brought back from the dead. The author of “The Thirteenth Tale” and “Bellman & Black” begins this account on a winter solstice more than a hundred years ago. A near-drowned stranger arrives at a rural inn, … Continue reading February 2020: Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield
About the book… ‘Shadow of the Titanic’ tells the extraordinary stories of some of those 705 who survived. How did the loss of the ship shape the lives of the people who survived? How did those who were saved feel about those who perished? And how did they remember that terrible night? About the author…Andrew … Continue reading January 2020: Shadow of the Titanic by Andrew Wilson
About the book.. Just days after hearing that her husband of thirty-two years, was terminally ill, they lost their home and livelihood. With nothing left and little time , they impulsively decided to walk the 630-mile South West Coast Path, from Somerset to Dorset, via Devon and Cornwall. Living wild and free, at the mercy … Continue reading December 2019: The Salt Path by Raynor Winn
About the book… One suicide, and one murder. Are they connected? With black liquorice coins covering the murdered man’s eyes, the hashtag #ferryman starts trending, and the local people stocking up on ammunition. With only a fortnight to investigate before moving to the South, Tuva is further troubled by a blizzard that descends on the … Continue reading October 2019: ‘Red Snow’ by Will Dean
ABOUT THE BOOK… When Rebecca Palmer’s new husband opens a pharmacy in Victorian Edinburgh, she expects to live the life of a well-heeled gentlewoman. But her ideal is turns to ashes when she discovers her husband is not what he seems. As Rebecca struggles to maintain her dignity in the face of his infidelity and … Continue reading September, 2019: ‘The Pharmacist’s Wife’ by Vanessa Tait
‘Normal People may not be about being young right now, but better than that, it shows what it is to be young and in love at any time. It may not be absolutely contemporary, but it is a future classic.’ The Guardian ABOUT THE BOOK: At school Connell and Marianne pretend not to know each … Continue reading August, 2019: ‘Normal People’ by Sally Rooney
‘Overlooked classics of American literature … Russo’s only campus novel, its hugely endearing characters make underachievement curiously appealing.’ Guardian ABOUT THE BOOK: Hilarious and true-to-life, witty, compassionate, and impossible to put down, Straight Man follows Hank Devereaux through one very bad week in this novel from Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Russo. William Henry Devereaux, Jr., … Continue reading July, 2019: ‘Straight Man’ by Richard Russo
‘Christine Dwyer Hickey’s writing shows deep understanding of human weakness … Everything about the writing is so carefully balanced – thought and action, feeling and movement, drama and suspense. She leaves space on the page, giving her characters the freedom to behave unexpectedly and to occupy the mind of the reader even when they are … Continue reading June, 2019: ‘The Narrow Land’ by Christine Dwyer Hickey
‘Dedicated to her own son’s memory, Li’s conversation between a writer and her late child is moving and mischievous.’ The Guardian February, 2019. About the Novel: A brilliant writer imagines a fictional conversation between a mother and the teenage son she lost to suicide. Yiyun Li confronts grief and transforms it into art, in a … Continue reading May, 2019: ‘Where Reasons End’ by Yiyun Li
Lucan Library Book Club 