you were to raise a glass to each of them, what would you say?
And what would you learn about yourself, when all is said and
done? This is the story of 84-year-old Maurice Hannigan, an
Irish farmer. Over the course of a Saturday night in June, he
orders five drinks at the Rainsford House Hotel, and with each
he toasts a key person from his life: his adored older brother;
his troubled sister-in-law; his daughter of fifteen minutes; his
son far off in America; and his late, much-missed wife.
Through these people, the ones who have left him behind, he
tells the story of his own life. You will both smile and need a
handkerchief.
Mrs Millwood is taken ill, it ruins everything, and Doubler
begins to worry that he might have lost his way. But could the
kindness of strangers be enough to bring him down from the
hill? A warm, modern fable from the author of ‘The Museum
of Things Left Behind’.
Finally, how about the
small paperback version of
Two Steps Forward (p), by
Graeme Simsion? This is a
story of second chances.
Zoe, a sometime artist, is
from California, US.
Martin, an engineer, is
from Yorkshire, UK. Both
have ended up in
picturesque Cluny in
central France. Each is
struggling to come to
terms with the recent past:
for Zoe, the death of her
husband; for Martin, a
messy divorce. Looking to
make a fresh start, each
sets out alone to walk the
2,000 kilometres from
Cluny to Santiago de
Compostela, Galicia, Spain, in the footsteps of pilgrims who
have walked El Camino, ‘the Way’, over the centuries. El
Camino changes you, it is said. It is a chance to find a new
version of yourself, and a new beginning.
Then there is Mr
Doubler Begins Again
(l), by Seni Glaister.
Not all journeys take
you far from home. A
farmer in his late
sixties, Mr Doubler is
stuck in a rut after
losing his wife. He
lives alone at Mirth
Farm atop a hill. Back
when she was around,
Doubler’s wife was
always surrounded by
friends. But Doubler is
different. The only
company he needs are
his potato plants and
his housekeeper, Mrs
Millwood, who visits
every day. So, when
Key: (l) hardback or large paperback (p) small paperback
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