Once again, as with ‘The Trouble with Goats and
Sheep’ our setting is U.K.’s 1976 heat wave. Clearly, I’m determined to
pretend summer isn’t ending. This time we are in London before making
visits to New York and Connemara,
Ireland. Grandfather Robert Riordan goes missing. The impact of his
disappearance on his family is far-reaching and, I hope, interesting.
Long kept secrets and fraught relationships are revealed and examined.
Individuals are forced to come to terms with the
consequences of past decisions. It all sounds a little familiar, but my
writing group highly recommended anything by this author, so . . . Do
we think Michael Francis and Claire will remain married? What is the
effect of illiteracy on Aoife’s life? Does this
seem credible? Do you agree with the Irish Times’ statement that the
Riordans ‘feel like family’? Hope this provides happy reading, ladies.
Saturday, 7 September 2019
Instructions For A Heatwave by Maggie O'Farrell
by Sue,
Once again, as with ‘The Trouble with Goats and
Sheep’ our setting is U.K.’s 1976 heat wave. Clearly, I’m determined to
pretend summer isn’t ending. This time we are in London before making
visits to New York and Connemara,
Ireland. Grandfather Robert Riordan goes missing. The impact of his
disappearance on his family is far-reaching and, I hope, interesting.
Long kept secrets and fraught relationships are revealed and examined.
Individuals are forced to come to terms with the
consequences of past decisions. It all sounds a little familiar, but my
writing group highly recommended anything by this author, so . . . Do
we think Michael Francis and Claire will remain married? What is the
effect of illiteracy on Aoife’s life? Does this
seem credible? Do you agree with the Irish Times’ statement that the
Riordans ‘feel like family’? Hope this provides happy reading, ladies.
Once again, as with ‘The Trouble with Goats and
Sheep’ our setting is U.K.’s 1976 heat wave. Clearly, I’m determined to
pretend summer isn’t ending. This time we are in London before making
visits to New York and Connemara,
Ireland. Grandfather Robert Riordan goes missing. The impact of his
disappearance on his family is far-reaching and, I hope, interesting.
Long kept secrets and fraught relationships are revealed and examined.
Individuals are forced to come to terms with the
consequences of past decisions. It all sounds a little familiar, but my
writing group highly recommended anything by this author, so . . . Do
we think Michael Francis and Claire will remain married? What is the
effect of illiteracy on Aoife’s life? Does this
seem credible? Do you agree with the Irish Times’ statement that the
Riordans ‘feel like family’? Hope this provides happy reading, ladies.
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Hello Ladies!
ReplyDeleteHope you are both doing well. The school season has been going quite well. Lillian is enjoying school and Benjamin is really enjoying soccer. We are having second summer with smatterings of fall. (Thanks a lot climate change.) How are things for you both?
Instructions for a heatwave was a marvelous read. Ms. O’Farrell constantly teases the reader with little peeks into the past of this family while never completely giving anything away until she was ready. I felt like I was frequently on the cusp of knowing what happened between the different characters before Ms. O’Farrell would take us back to the present. It was an excellent way of keeping the reader’s attention.
I would like to believe that Michael Francis and Claire’s marriage survives their ordeal. Gretta’s insistence that Michael Francis could always resolve a problem and the couple’s cuddling at the end of the novel gave me hope. This is not enough to guarantee a happy outcome for the couple and I am curious as to what your predictions will be. But I feel that there are no questions that Monica’s marriage will be ending shortly. I wonder what kind of life she would make for herself.
The title had me quite confused but I read an interesting article in The New York Times. It stated that the title was a metaphor “of the parched feeling of never getting enough of what one truly wants, of a chronic, frustrating thirst.” The idea that literal heatwaves cause a confined or oppressive atmosphere and our characters certainly seem oppressed. Aoife is oppressed by her inability to read while Monica is oppressed by the stereotypical roles of a woman that she doesn’t seem to fit into.
I was a little disappointed by the ending. I felt like too much was left open-ended and I had no closure. How did you feel about the ending? Did you think it was fitting to all that this family had been through? Do you think that they will accept Robert back with little explanation or do you think there will be drama?
Look forward to hearing from you both.
Much love,
Katie
Hello Ladies
ReplyDeleteKatie, I loved that Lillian is enjoying school while Benjamin is enjoying soccer. Brilliant! Life must be so busy for you, Katie. I’m full of admiration for your energy. I’m hoping spring and approaching summer are not going to be as hot as you forecast, Nancy. Still, it must be getting warmer there because it’s certainly getting wet and cooler here. Fortunately the shed has been finished, discovered to be waterproof, and Jay is happy. We spent a wonderful week in the Yorkshire Dales, beautiful countryside, and we’re going on cruise along the Norwegian coast in a few weeks. I’m a very lucky person.
I thanked my writing group for the recommendation, as I really enjoyed ‘Instructions for a Heatwave’. The characters were wonderfully drawn, I liked the varied settings, and the insights into Gretta’s, Michael Francis’s and Monica’s marriages were fascinating. I’m betting on Michael Francis and Claire staying together. I’d like to think they’d recognise how much they have invested in their marriage, and how much they still share. The early description (pp16-24 in my book) of the relationship from Michael Francis’s viewpoint is so revealing, the comments on his response to his wife’s haircut really moving.
And it’s only at the end that I realized how much Gretta loves Robert, when she swings open the gate, steps out of the garden and waves to him. Basing an entire hypothesis on such a small detail, I think Gretta is going to make sure that Robert slips right back into family life as though nothing had happened. Best answer I can give to your question, Katie, and I can well understand it might not be satisfactory. My huge desire for a happy ending may well be affecting my literary judgment!
It’s the details Ms. O’Farrell is so good at. Aoife’s awful fear of her illiteracy being discovered is marvellously conveyed in her relief when Evelyn leaves the studio. “ . . . clasping and unclasping her hands, knuckles whitening through skin. She shuts her eyes for a moment or two, enough for the chambers of her heart to contract once and expand again, taking in the returning blood.” (p. 92) There really isn’t any management of Aoife’s illiteracy, certainly not at school. The church’s solution that she read bible stories to the children, Aoife’s refusal to do so, and Gretta’s subsequent throwing of spinach on the floor are absolutely convincing details, incredible as they may seem in the 21st century.
There’s probably an entire dissertation to be written on the impact of religion on the lives of the Riordans, but I won’t go there. I think society has moved on a little since 1976. I’m not sure the Riordans felt like family, my own being very different, but the characters were so effectively portrayed and so entertaining, I never once looked at the end of the book.
ReplyDeleteHello Ladies,
Katie, so wonderful to hear of the children’s progress, time goes so fast, now you’re a school and soccer mum! It is a time of much change as they learn independence, I miss my kids as children a lot.
Sue, so pleased the shed is up and functioning, and a little jealous to hear of your Norwegian trip, some of those fiords are mind-blowing in their size. I felt at times what I was seeing wasn’t real, it was too beautiful!
We are all OK here, Ivars and I had a few days away on The Great Barrier Reef snorkelling. It was amazing. Gracie is in Japan and next week heads to South Korea for a week….I will be happy when she touches down in Melbourne I think. Nevertheless she is having a hoot of a time.
I also really enjoyed our book this month, thank you Sue and your writer’s group for the recommendation.
Katie, the NYT’s suggestion that the heatwave was a metaphor for the oppressive feelings inside the Riordan family really resonated with me. Typical of a family of the seventies, the lack of communication and subsequent misunderstandings certainly created an oppressive atmosphere.
I also felt a little let down by the ending, maybe I just didn’t really want the story to end. I feel sure Robert would have been welcomed back into the family fold.
I agree that Gretta still loved him, but I also believe she knew he loved her. Early in the book she spoke of the little things he did for her that showed how much she cared. I guess if love is strong, many things can be forgiven.
The story ticked all my happy buttons as all the family members seemed to resolve their problems as the book came to a close.
Aoife finally found understanding and acceptance from Gabe, I feel Claire and Michael Francis were well on the way to patching up their marriage and Monica mending her relationship with Aoife and realising her marriage to Peter was a mistake.
It was interesting how Ms O’Farrell slowly revealed the true story behind each characters situation. At first I assumed Claire was being uncaring of Michael Francis’ feelings as she searched for independence, only for it to be revealed she was also dealing with his betrayal. So many layers, so fascinating to read.
It was a novel that kept me guessing until the end.
Much love
Nancy