Instructions for a Heatwave (Hardcover) by Maggie O'Farrell

from julia.flyte

Recently I heard Kate Atkinson speak at a writer's festival. I am an only child, as is she, and she said something that struck a chord with me. She talked about how she is fascinated by families and the dynamics between siblings. It seems to her that families are a safe place where you can behave...

from LARA335

Three grown siblings return home to help their mother when their father goes missing. The son fears he is losing his wife as she returns to education and forms her own friends. Aoife ties herself in knots hiding her dislexia, and the third child feels a stranger in her own marriage, disliked by h...

from Donna828

Much happens during the three days in July of 1976 that this novel covers. Gretta's retired husband goes on an errand and doesn't come home. Their three grown children gather around her to provide some moral support and to try and figure out what happened to their father. Michael Francis and Moni...

from Cariola

Once again, Maggie O'Farrell creates a set of well-developed characters and turns her focus to complex family dynamics. The year is 1976, and England is in the midst of a heatwave. While his wife Gretta follows her usual morning bread baking routine, recent retiree Robert Riordan goes for his mor...

from lizchris

This is a story set in 1970s London, in a first-generation Irish family. I found it deeply authentic and personal, it even ends on my birthday. The story starts with the mysterious disappearance of the retired father. The author captures the family dynamic which seems so strong in Irish families ...