Dear Great Book Guru,  So many fun things to do this weekend in Sea Cliff – lots of parties, cookie swaps, and on Sunday at 5pm the lighting of the new Menorah on the Village Green ! Any good books to recommend for a busy holiday celebrant?

Loving the Holidays

Dear Loving the Holidays,   I have just finished  a short, beautifully written and very disturbing book: THE SPINNING HEART by Donal Ryan.  Set in a rural Irish village as the economy crashes in 2008, this debut novel tells the stories of a community whose world has gone awry.  A local construction company- the prime source of employment for the village- goes bankrupt and its corrupt owner flees the country. His family, his workers, and their children face this new impoverished reality with varying degrees of grace and bitterness. Each chapter is told by a different character so by the end of the book we have heard from twenty- one villagers with their stories revealing starkly contrasting views.  We hear a six-year old girl’s concerns about parental strife, her parents’ fears of economic ruin, an aging patriarch’s shame at his son’s illicit dealings, the son’s unspoken plea for forgiveness…. This is a work of  enormous beauty, some humor,   and offers  great insight into the Irish psyche- highly recommended!