To be frank, the first thing I ever read of Maggie O’Farrell’s was an essay which came in a tiny pamphlet to promote the release of The Marriage Portrait in 2022. I was new to bookselling and didn’t know anything about her backlist other than Hamnet (which sacrilegiously does not feature in this piece – I’m here to point you in more untouched directions). The essay was witty, human, and an entertaining account of her Italian adventures researching the book. Of course I had to find more from this author.
To celebrate 25 years of publishing O’Farrell’s books, Tinder Press has released new editions of some of her best. They are bright and modern – and make it clear to those who don’t know that most of her books are literary romances, dealing with motherhood, heartbreak, and gorgeous settings around Scotland, Ireland and England.
To read before winter ends…
Instructions for a Heatwave
This is one of my top 10 books. Sure to scoop you right out of this miserable wintery slump (or is that just me?) Instructions for a Heatwave is a prime example of how much O’Farrell can pack into one standard paperback.
This is mostly a family drama. It’s set in the 1976 London Heatwave; the family is Irish; some of it is set in New York – do you really need more than that?
The hook: Gretta Riordan wakes up one morning, her husband leaves to get the paper, and he doesn’t come back. Brought together by panic, her three adult children must meet for the first time in years.
I think this is the book which has stuck with me most because of the array of characters. Maggie O’Farrell is so good at writing women, but it’s actually Greta’s grown-up son, Michael Francis, who I keep coming back to. His role as 70s dad and husband are already kind of fun to explore (as a 2020s daughter and not-wife), and with the added dynamic that he is a panicking boy, whose own father is missing, makes for compelling reading.
The one BookTok missed…
My Lover’s Lover
Before Verity by Colleen Hoover or The Housemaid by Frieda McFadden, there was My Lover’s Lover. This is a haunting and suspenseful book, her second novel, which doesn’t quite have the depth of some of her others, but is perfect for a light read.
Main character Lily falls for architect Marcus in a classic meet cute (she literally falls over). Being London, she moves in with him almost straight away, however his spacious, artful home leaves her feeling uncomfortable. Lily’s paranoia leads her (and us) to believe the ghost of Marcus’ former lover, Sinead, is still hanging around.
I don’t normally read anything thrilling, so I can’t really tell you whether the outcome is predictable. I’ve never predicted anything in my life. But I can say this is a fun, light, kind of spooky read which is probably the most deserving of these new romance-y cover designs. It is a prime example of her ability to string together the most beautiful sentences. This one is fun, and a great dig at the converted-warehouse-dwelling-artist scene.
The one that's too sad for some…
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox
I lent this book to my Mum and she said it was 'horrible, far too sad.' Yet we discussed it at length and she finished it in one day. It’s a heartbreaking book, but you simply must finish it. It explores the lingering past of Victorian asylums, and does an exacting job of comparing women’s worlds across decades. If you liked how grim yet powerful The Marriage Portrait was, then I highly recommend this.
Iris is living in Edinburgh and finds out she has a great aunt she has never heard of. Said aunt is in a psychiatric unit and about to be released, making her Iris’s problem. Lucky for us readers, Esme Lennox is a fully formed, fearless characters who gives us so much more than crazy-old-lady.
Flashing between the 1930s and modern day, this is a story of 'madness' and 'difficult girls'. The meeting of these women reveals truths about memory, family, and the place of women in the 20th century.
Near-death nonfiction…
I Am, I Am, I Am
Some nonfiction for those so inclined! This is O’Farrell’s memoir, sorted into 17 encounters with near death experiences. We've all had that many, haven't we?
The title borrows from Sylvia Plath’s words of survival and resilience in The Bell Jar, as Esther remembers she is alive. This is a tense but compelling way to introduce yourself through biography. O’Farrell gives us insights into her life, how she got her voice, and what informs her writing, through the peril of it all.
Falling planes, deathly illnesses, dangerous humans. I loved all the detail, all the times it forced me to think about luck or risk. And how nice to find your favourite author in another section of the shop!
The one that’s just turned 25!
After You’d Gone
This is the one which started it all, and we are both celebrating our quarter of a century this year. There’s something heartening about being a bookseller and seeing a debut go wild with popularity. I’m sure that’s how my counterparts felt 25 years ago, when this multi-generational story of love and grief came out. While now I know the weaving between time and people is a hallmark of O’Farrell’s, reading this when it came out would have had the element of surprise that debuts carry.
Alice gets up early one morning. She walks to London’s King Cross Station. She boards the next train to Edinburgh, meets her sisters at the station, then turns back straight away. While a compelling blurb, it perhaps doesn’t do justice to the rest of the richly written women in the book, or how the Scottish landscape contributes a level of grit you might not expect from this new colourful edition.
I love the world building in this, even though it is our real world. The author hops between time and perspective without leaving you behind. The voices between the characters alter enough to be believable, but not so starkly that the book changes between chapters.
Do I wish not so many of the characters' names started with the same letter? Yes. But maybe bigger brains than mine wouldn’t notice this.
The one I’ll read again…
The Marriage Portrait
I have passed this book around, pressed it into hands, forced it onto book clubs. Even if historical fiction isn’t for you, please give it a go, because it’s a tale of female strength and oppressing structures which translates perfectly. Based on Robert Browning’s poem My Last Duchess, O’Farrell has fictionalised the portrait it tells of, and attributes it to Lucrezia de’ Medici. You will fall in love with Lucrezia’s portrayal here, and be completely swept up by the setting.
For me, this was the darkest of O’Farrell’s books. While she definitely doesn’t shy away from depicting sexual violence in other works, The Marriage Portrait is relentless in its power structures, and awful description of the marriage between young Lucrezia and her arranged husband, the Duke of Ferrara.
16th century Florence is a far cry from the usual London/Edinburgh/Ireland triangle which made me so excited to scour O’Farrell’s backlist, but her knack for the historical makes this, in my opinion, her most powerful read.
Discover more of O'Farrell's books here!
