Our volunteer Jane Carmidy recommends Instruction for a heatwave:
On reading the blurb I thought I had read this novel but I think I was confusing it with ‘The vanishing act of Esme Lennox’; vanishing and disappearing would seem to be recurring Maggie O’Farrell themes. Once I started however, I realised it was a different reading experience: the Riordan family communicate in their individual voices, and the intensity of the 1976 heatwave stifles. It feels that this was a family and a time Maggie O’Farrell knew intimately. As she indicates in her epilogue, for her generation it was probably that particular summer of 1976 that many of us reflect on when we remember the hot summers of our childhood. The heatwave is like a character in the book: silent, intense and energy sapping.
In fact the novel itself is very much character driven with the plot almost melting away in the heat. The characters are so full of life that you do, however, want to know what will happen next. ‘Instructions for a heatwave’ could make an interesting play with the dynamics of the family members playing out as a farce. The dialogue and interactions made me laugh, reminding me of so many families with their secrets, misunderstandings, communication breakdowns, and idiosyncrasies.
The 3 Riordan siblings and their mother are reunited for the first time in 3 years when the father leaves home one morning and doesn’t return. Aoife, the youngest, has come back from New York; Michael, a teacher, has just broken up from school for the summer holidays but is not looking forward to the break; and Monica, struggling in her role as a step-mother, is trying to maintain her composure in the face of a domestic ‘situation’. Gretta, the mother, is endearing but you can understand the frustrations of her children when, in the middle of this family ‘crisis’ she decides to have a ‘good old clear out’ of the kitchen cupboards. They are each either hiding something or trying to reach a resolution and it is these aspects of the story and their personalities that provide the fun and pathos in equal measures.
I hope you enjoy this novel as I did. It reminded me of the hot summer(s) of my childhood and it made me smile as an observer of these family mysteries and secrets. Most families probably have them!
