Thursday, June 3, 2021

Friday Focus: The Friday 56 and Book Beginnings

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It's Friday . . . time to share book excerpts with:
  • Book Beginnings on Fridays hosted by Rose City Reader, where bloggers share the first sentence or more of a current read, as well as initial thoughts about the sentence(s), impressions of the book, or anything else that the opening inspires.  
  • The Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice, where you grab a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% of an eBook), find one or more interesting sentences (no spoilers), and post them.

Today I'm featuring Strange Flowers by Irish writer Donal Ryan. The excerpts shared are from a hardcover version of the book I recently purchased from Book Depository.




Beginning:  All the light left Paddy Gladney's eyes when his daughter disappeared; all the gladness went from his heart.

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Page 56:  I never felt right inside, Mam. From when I was about ten or eleven. There was something wrong with me. Something I couldn't put a name on.

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My thoughts:  The plot, writing style, and excerpts draw me in immediately. I get a compelling sense of wanting to know more about the story and its characters.

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From GoodReads:  In 1973 Moll Gladney goes missing from the Tipperary hillside where she was born. Slowly her parents, Paddy and Kit, begin to accept that she’s gone forever. But she returns, changed, and with a few surprises for her family and neighbours.

Nothing is ever the same again for the Gladneys, who learn that fate cares little for duty, that life rarely conforms to expectation, that God can’t be relied upon to heed any prayer.

A story of exile and return, of loss and discovery, of retreat from grief and the saving power of love.




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This Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com.  It cannot be republished without attribution. 

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5 comments:

  1. All these books set in Ireland makes me want to go visit. Strange Flowers looks really good.

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  2. I agree with you about quotes for Strange Flowers. It did get my interest, and I hope you like this one when you get to it. Have a great weekend!

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  3. I'm completely with you, those are super evocative quotes and the writing feels very lyrical. While this may be a sad read I think it will be a beautiful reading experience. I hope you have a lovely start to the weekend and do drop by my Friday post if you have the time! - Juli @ A Universe in Words

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  4. Sounds like a page turner! Thanks for sharing, and here's mine: “HOME FIRES”

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  5. Both snippets pulled me right into the story!! Happy weekend!

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