I just finished reading the book instructions for a heatwave by Maggie O'Farrell. This book rescued me from a bit of a reading slump, I felt like I hadn't read anything really good since the summer and I was beginning to lose my faith in my book choices, especially as I felt like I read so many good books last year.
Instructions for a heatwave tells the story of the Riordan's, an Irish family living in London. One morning during the heatwave of 1976, Robert Riordan goes out to get a newspaper but doesn't come back, as his wife begins to fret over his disappearance she summons her adult children home to help her solve the mystery.
I love a novel that delves into the psychology of a family, and the Riordan's are a family who have been pulled apart by lies, regrets, resentments and things left unsaid, so there was plenty to get my teeth into with the characters in this book.
My only gripe with this book was that it moved at quite a slow pace that sometimes felt sleepy, and if it wasn't for the notes on the heatwave act throughout the book I think the relevance of it being set in that time would have been lost on me. That could be to do with the fact though that the heatwave was before my time, maybe if I had been around at that time then it would have sparked some sense of nostalgia in me.
This book is definitely worth a read if you like family drama type stuff, another book that I would compare it to would be fly away home by Jennifer Weiner.
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