BookTalk introduces readers to a carefully chosen, provocative selection of novels for reading and informal discussion, considering the author’s writing techniques and the character’s personal journeys. Readings include translations of books from other countries and cultures in the search for fictions that illuminate the lives and understanding of those from all across the globe.
This class focuses on Prophet Song (2023) by Paul Lynch. Winner of the Man Booker Prize, the novel tells the terrifying plight of Ellish Stack, a mother of four, as she tries to protect her family in a dystopian Ireland that is descending into totalitarianism. The book opens with a late night knock at the door by two officers from the newly formed secret police, seeking to interrogate Stack's husband, a trade unionist. Exhilarating and confrontational, the book simultaneously portrays a shocking tyrannical vision of a country and the emotional portrait of a mother’s fight to hold her family together.
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