Instructions for a Heatwave ~ Paperback ~ Maggie O'Farrell

London, 1976. In the thick of a record-breaking heatwave, Gretta Riordan s newly retired husband has cleaned out his bank account and vanished. Now, for the first time in years, Gretta calls her children home: Michael Francis, a history teacher whose marriage is failing; Monica, whose blighted past has driven a wedge between her and her younger sister; and Aoife, the youngest, whose new life in Manhattan is elaborately arranged to conceal a devastating secret. In a story that stretches from the Upper West Side to a village on the coast of Ireland, Maggie O Farrell explores the mysteries that inhere within families, and reveals the fault lines over which we build our lives. "Instructions for a Heatwave" weaves an unforgettable narrative of a family falling apart and coming together with hard-won, life-changing truths about who they really are."Author BiographyMaggie O Farrell is the author of"After""You d Gone, "winner of a Betty Trask Award; "My Lover s Lover; The Distance Between Us, "winner of a Somerset Maugham Award;"The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox; The Hand That First Held Mine, "winner of a Costa Novel Award; and "Instructions for a Heatwave," shortlisted for the Costa Award. "