
Sample Saturday is when I wade through the eleventy billion samples I have downloaded on my Kindle. I’m slowly chipping away and deciding whether it’s buy or bye. This week, all three come from Susan’s Women’s Prize wish list.
Days of Light by Megan Hunter
Summary: Easter Sunday, 1938. Ivy is nineteen and ready for her life to finally begin. Her sprawling, bohemian family and their friends gather in the idyllic English countryside for lunch, arranging themselves around well-worn roles, trading political views and artistic arguments. In the spring air, Ivy’s world feels on the cusp of something grand, but neither she nor those closest to her predicts how a single evening will alter the rest of their lives.
I’m thinking: Maybe.
The Benefactors by Wendy Erskine
Summary: Frankie, Miriam and Bronagh: three very different women from Belfast, all mothers to 18-year-old boys. When their sons are accused of sexually assaulting a friend, they’ll come together to protect their children, leveraging all the powers they possess. But on her side, Misty has the formidable matriarch, Nan D, and her father, taxi-driver Boogie: an alliance not so easily dismissed.
I’m thinking: Yes.
A Private Man by Stephanie Sy-Quia
Summary: Rome, 1953. David is young, handsome, charismatic, and sworn to celibacy. He is freshly ordained, and about to return to England to begin life as a priest. In London, Margaret is entangled in an impossible love affair. Increasingly drawn to the Church, she sets out to join the new revolutions of sex and faith. Decades later, she is being cared for by her grandson, who has just discovered the strange truth of his family history.
I’m thinking: No.
Yes, I second your choice of The Benefactors. This book tackles mother love in the context of privilege and entitlement, and I think it’s more than just interesting fiction, it’s an important book because it explores justice and power. And the characters are great!
Days of Light got 4.5/5 stars from me, and might have gotten 5 if the religious stuff was kept more at bay.
Thanks for the link, Kate. Pleased to see you’ve decided to go for the Erskine, the only one of my wishes to be fulfilled.
I have a copy of Days of Light too, but loved The Benefactors so glad you’ve gone for that one.
Days of Light is Hunter’s best book by a mile.