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Mar 2015
1:14pm, 4 Mar 2015
4,323 posts
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LindsD
SPOILER ALERT!!!
This is an bonus discussion thread for the March Bonus Book: Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O'Farrell.
DO NOT proceed if you haven't read it and don't want it spoiled for you! If you don't care, go ahead.
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Mar 2015
1:14pm, 4 Mar 2015
4,324 posts
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LindsD
I've finished. I loved it. I'll be back later with more detail. I think I liked it the most of all the books I've read this year. 
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Mar 2015
7:41am, 5 Mar 2015
14,858 posts
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McGoohan
Okay, before I read any further, how is Aoife pronounced? It is going to really bug me if I don't know how to pronounce that.
I am rubbish with Irish names - they're never said the way they look in print.
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Mar 2015
7:42am, 5 Mar 2015
14,859 posts
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McGoohan
(It's a little bit like reading a sci-fi book where people are called Qzztxg and Yyyyggthyn. You can write that but you can't say it.)
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Mar 2015
8:51am, 5 Mar 2015
4,337 posts
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LindsD
It comes later in the book, but like Ee-fuh. Does that help?
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Mar 2015
9:01am, 5 Mar 2015
14,861 posts
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McGoohan
It does. I need to be able to picture it while I read.
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Mar 2015
9:15pm, 5 Mar 2015
14,899 posts
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McGoohan
Proper reading this on the bus today. Didn't know if I was going to get into it... then she describes a conversation between Michael Francis and his mother and OMG that is EXACTLY the way conversations go with my Mum.
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Mar 2015
11:19am, 6 Mar 2015
4,343 posts
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LindsD
Yes! That's one of the (many) reasons I loved it. That's how conversations go with my Mum, too. And the description of the Irish mother/Irish family was so spot on. OH is Irish...
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Mar 2015
3:09pm, 6 Mar 2015
4,357 posts
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LindsD
So. I really liked this. I gave it a 10. The things I particularly liked:
The depiction of being second generation Irish (my kids are).
The depiction (Monica) of being a step-mother (I am). Especially with a hostile first wife.
The way she describes adult children interacting with parents, especially playing little tricks/strategies to get what they want. The way you are always a child with your parents, even if you are the one in control for whatever reason (illness, crisis, age, etc.). Similarly sibling relationships which often don't change in adulthood.
I also really liked that the main event of the story (the disappearance) was actually just a device for all of this. I really felt like I knew the family by the end.
I've marked some quotes but the book's upstairs so that'll be for later. Hope everyone else finishes reading soon
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Mar 2015
3:40pm, 6 Mar 2015
14,929 posts
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McGoohan
OOps. I'm not going to read that post... I haven't finished it yet. I only came in here because I'm watching the thread. D'oh!
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