Welcome to Litsy!

I adored this novel set in 1962 fictional Faha (west Ireland). Gorgeous, real characters and infused with a sense of place & feeling of being in a rainy small town. A gentle pace but drama on every page as the characters engage with each other, make choices & battle with their conscience. Most of all the writing is sublime, the sentences finely turned but unshowy, with an Irish warmth & sensibility. I loved the deadpan humour too. A beautiful book

“Stories on an island travel sideways”….. something to that effect. 💚

Perfect description of this intimately detailed portrait of a doctor, his daughter, and their village during the Christmas season of 1962. Something unexpectedly upends the doctor‘s guarded privacy and equilibrium.

Simply gorgeous prose with quotable gems every page. I enjoyed This is Happiness, but I loved this one.

I‘m a big fan of Williams- of how he describes daily life expertly and beautifully, and he does the same in this novel. I felt it moved too slow (even though I like that about his writing). The plot was interesting at times, but didn‘t hit with the same punch that others had. Good, but not great.

Audiobook pick:
This was my third book from this author, and probably my least favorite. The main character was interesting, but most of the other characters just didn't pull me into the story. The overall plot was okay, but honestly it could have been much better. Kind of a forgettable thriller.

“It was grotesque, the way I kept trying to save that relationship. Like trying to tuck an elephant into pants.”

#AsianAuthor

#Bibliophile

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Just finished listening to This Time Tomorrow. It has been in my mine for many years what it would be like to go back to the age if 15 or 16 having the knowledge I have as adult so this book intrigued me. I enjoyed it. Also I did not know Emma Straub is the daughter of Peter Straub another favorite author. His book Ghost Story is the best ghost story I've read.

As long as you go into this knowing that you‘ll have to slow your reading way down, you‘ll be fine. Williams‘ writing is dense & beautiful, with descriptions that bring you so close to the reality of the person, place & thing that you‘ll come out of the story feeling as if you were there. The child in question doesn‘t appear until halfway through the story and by then you‘ve become thoroughly acquainted with the characters of Faha & their lives.

Just loved this book. It took me a while to get into it but so glad I kept going. By the time the story unfolded I had a good handle on the main characters. I had to really concentrate at times on his beautiful writing. Good tears at the end for me. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

What an excellent thriller. And not just that but intelligent and intriguing. It just galloped along. The Did he ? Didn‘t he? game was beautifully crafted. I know some of you guessed the twist at the end but I didn‘t until almost the last few chapters. I think I was too fully immersed in the story and enjoying the ride.