‘Although sometimes I think that people like us are always alone in this world. Hidden away and stuck inside our Treacle Towns. Unequal and unrecognised.’ Con O’Neill, the protagonist of this novel reflects on life in his community, a so called ‘Treacle Town,’ where nobody can ever seem to leave, stuck in the roles imposed upon them by the people around them.
Published in September 2023, 'Reading Matters' sees the return of the 'best of the year' format to our annual reading guide.
Eric and Finn have always been best friends and a perfect match. While Eric is anxious and fearful of trying new things, Finn often bravely dives headfirst into adventure, dragging Eric along for the memories. Finn’s lively joie de vivre mean that it is difficult for Eric to process when Finn becomes ill and passes away – or has he?
The metaphor of carrying grief like a heavy rock is clear from the first page. The tasks of eating, sleeping and withdrawing from life are graphically depicted in simple, gentle images, but always with survival on the horizon, and the prospect of enjoying life once more.
Lily’s childhood has always been fractious. The youngest of four in an Irish-Nigerian household, moments of blissful undivided attention from her mother are few and far between, as her father’s silent, yet overbearing presence, permeates the family’s dynamics. When her father becomes increasingly unwell, a violent incident leads to Lily moving to the UK with her older brother in attempt at a fresh start. But life in Manchester is just as complicated as in Lagos and Lily struggles to find her place in the world.
Since Jack’s dad died, he has been feeling lost. His mum, an environmental anthropologist, is rarely home and when she is, all she wants to do is have ‘serious chats’. To quench the heavy feeling that has been following him, Jack looks for danger and excitement by getting involved with a gang of boys that want to cause trouble. But suddenly, Jack’s mum suggests a trip abroad together and he finds himself in the depths of the rainforest, dealing with dangers far worse than the ones at home.
The Lorikeet Tree is a tale of family dynamics, love and loss, against a backdrop of ecological concerns. Emily and Alex are 15-year-old twins, who live with their terminally ill, widowed father in a reforested property in Australia. Emily is passionate about safeguarding the indigenous species in their forest, whereas Alex is enthralled by a feral kitten that he adopts, providing the central conflict in the book.
In the not-so-distant future, the world has finally recognised the threat posed by climate change. When Rory, an adventurous and nature-loving, girl isolated from her schoolmates by family circumstance is granted the opportunity to explore a re-wilded far north, she's thrilled.
The Eternal Return of Clara Hart, a timely exploration of toxic masculinity, is structured around two time loops: the loop in which the narrator, Spence, is forced to repeat the same day over and over again until he learns something about himself and his milieu; and the loop of grief in which he and his father have been stuck since the sudden death of his mother exactly one year ago.
Eighteen year old Salama volunteers as a nurse at her local hospital in Syria. For fifty years, the country has been under dictatorship, and the Free Syrian Army has taken to the streets to protect civilians.
