The next book to be featured this season on the Sara Cox Radio 2 Book Club is Saoirse by Charleen Hurtubise—exploring the fine line between dishonesty and reinvention, it weaves an evocative and compelling story of a woman perpetually in flight.
The book will be released on 26 February and Charleen’s interview with Sara is on BBC Sounds from Tuesday 24 February.
Read an exclusive extract.
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Saoirse
Can a great love survive a great deception?
In the wilds of Donegal, Ireland, 1999, Saoirse is an artist living an outwardly idyllic life. Her tender husband Daithí and two beloved daughters are regular subjects for her work, and in them she has found the safe home that she has always longed for. She tends not to talk about her past, and those that love her have learned to accept that the full story is too painful for her to disclose.
When her Dublin exhibition unexpectedly wins a prestigious award that invites a swarm of publicity, Saoirse is left panic stricken. The unanticipated recognition threatens to expose a decade’s worth of buried memories and past crimes. Because what her family and friends don’t know is that Saoirse has been on the
run since she was seventeen, she has stolen an identity to survive, and whilst Ireland might now be her home, it wasn’t her first – and now her past life is poised to reclaim her.
About the author
Charleen Hurtubise has lived in Dublin, Ireland for over 25 years, having moved from Michigan, USA. She is a teacher and artist as well as a writer, and her short fiction, essays and poetry have appeared in various
publications. She holds an MFA Creative Writing from University College Dublin (UCD) where she has also
facilitated creative writing modules.
A word from Charleen
“I am beyond delighted that Saoirse has been picked for the BBC Radio 2 Book Club. What a meaningful endorsement to be chosen by librarians. Stories often follow the shape of the hero’s journey; the threshold guardian stands between the familiar world and what lies beyond. In my novel, it is a librarian who hands the protagonist, Saoirse, A Wrinkle in Time, opening the door to new possibilities, ideas, and escape. Reading was the beginning of Saoirse’s salvation, and I think the same can be said for so many of us in ‘real life.’ In my stories, and in my life, librarians have always been those guardians, opening the doors to new worlds. My heartfelt thanks to all of you, and to Radio 2 Book Club and The Reading Agency. I am so hopeful new readers will find something worthwhile in the world of Saoirse.”
Get involved
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