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Instructions for a Heatwave cover art

Instructions for a Heatwave

Written by: Maggie O'Farrell
Narrated by: Dearbhla Molloy
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Publisher's Summary

From the award-winning author of Hamnet and The Marriage Portrait: a sweeping family drama where a father's disappearance forces three adult siblings to come together and confront what they really know about their past.

London, 1976. In the thick of a record-breaking heatwave, Gretta Riordan's newly-retired husband has cleaned out his bank account and vanished. Now, for the first time in years, the three Riordan children are converging on their childhood home: Michael Francis, a history teacher whose marriage is failing; Monica, with two stepdaughters who despise her and an ugly secret that has driven a wedge between her and the little sister she once adored; and Aoife (pronounced EE-fah), the youngest, whose new life in Manhattan is elaborately arranged to conceal her illiteracy. As the siblings track down clues to their father's disappearance, they also navigate rocky pasts and long-held secrets. Their search ultimately brings them to their ancestral village in Ireland, where the truth of their family's past is revealed.

Wise, lyrical, instantly engrossing, Instructions for a Heatwave is a richly satisfying thriller from a writer of exceptional intelligence and grace.
©2013 Maggie O'Farrell (P)2023 Knopf Canada
Historical Fiction Genre Fiction
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Profile Image for Arliss Renwick

Excellent story well read

I’m currently binging all of Maggie O’Farrells books, and this one is a very fulfilling family story of mothers and siblings,

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