“Instructions for a Heatwave” by Maggie O’Farrell

21 Jul

“Instructions for a Heatwave” by Maggie O’Farrell

Posted July 21, 2013 by Anokatony in Book Reviews. 8 Comments

“Instructions for a Heatwave” by Maggie O’Farrell (2013) – 304 pages

There actually was a huge heat wave in London in the summer of 1976, the time when this novel is set. “Instructions for a Heatwave” is a family drama told mostly from a Catholic housewife’s point of view. The member of the family on whom the novel focuses changes frequently, but details about meal preparation, Catholic religion, and clothing items are always at the forefront.

Of course, living in London, it is impossible to get buttermilk; she has to make do with a mixture of half milk and half yogurt. A woman at Mass told her it worked and it does, up to a point, but it is never quite the same.

The above thoughts are those of the mother Gretta Riordan, but the same kind of prosaic details arise whoever the focus is. For readers who care about this kind of homemaking detail this is fine, but for me, no way, get me out of here. The novel also deals with Catholic issues from 1976 which seem today to me, a non-Catholic, ancient.

Recently I read “Life After Life” by Kate Atkinson which also is a family novel. That story totally won me over perhaps because it bypasses most of these mundane everyday details of family life for a more historical perspective.

“Instructions for a Heatwave” deals with relationships within the family unit rather than what’s happening outside. Amidst the details, there are interesting stories. The youngest daughter Aoife is the black sheep. She flunked her classes and is considered a free spirit by the rest of the family. We learn that due to dyslexia she cannot read which causes her a lot of problems. Each of the family has his or her issues, and the measure is always within the family. The story begins in London and travels to Ireland as the family searches for the missing father.

At one point the mother thinks about her bunions. As is nearly obligatory in modern novels, we then get a list of various toe ailments. If I wanted to read this kind of stuff, I’d go to Facebook.

Details are a part of every novel. If we are interested in the details, they help us appreciate the story. If we are bored by the details, they will detract from our interest in the story. The details do not reflect the quality of writing, but some writers can make you interested in subjects that had always bored you before. That did not happen for me with “Instructions for a Heatwave”.

I’m still bored with homemaking and religion.

8 responses to this post.

Posted by Caroline on July 21, 2013 at 8:17 AM

I’m not too keen on that type of mundane things either.
Maggie O’Farrell is an uneven writer. Her books are hit or miss for me. I don’t think this is one I’d like to read but I really liked The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox.

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- Posted by anokatony on July 21, 2013 at 3:14 PM
  
  Hi Caroline,
  This was my first Maggie O’Farrell; I could see that she could write an excellent novel, but this one wasn’t it for me. I’ve heard other good things about “The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox’.
  
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Posted by Charlotte Self on July 21, 2013 at 9:40 PM

I was enthusiastic about The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, the only book I’ve read by Maggie O’Ferrell. It had a great premise and was an artfully told story. I might be interested in reading about keeping house in the 1970s: questions of buttermilk, yes; bunions, probably not. It is amazing how sometimes the most arcane topics can be made interesting in the right hands. I will look for this one, thanks for your review.

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- Posted by anokatony on July 21, 2013 at 9:47 PM
  
  Hi Charlotte,
  There are many, many people in the world who will admire and love ‘Instructions’, just not me. My review should not deter anyone from reading it. Just because the details did not interest me, others will react differently.
  
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Posted by David Murphy on October 8, 2013 at 11:30 AM

For a refreshing review of O’Farrell’s Instructions for a Heatwave – and not too dissimilar to the one above – click on http://davidmurph.wordpress.com

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- Posted by anokatony on October 8, 2013 at 4:22 PM
  
  I read your ‘Instructions’ review. Well done! Have you read Kevin Barry’s ‘City of Bohane’? Now there is a recent Irish novel that I loved.
  
  Tony's Book World
  
  anokatony.blog@anokatony.blog
  
  “City of Bohane” by Kevin Barry – Prepare to be Dazzled
  
  “City of Bohane” by Kevin Barry (2013) – 277 pages
  
  “Many a yella moon had shone on the glorifiied pig’s mickey that is the Bohane peninsula since we had seen the likes of an eight-family mobbed descent off the Northside Rises.”
  
  I’m sure if I ever referred to the city of Bohane as a ‘glorified pig’s mickey’, the families of both gangs in the Bohane dispute would rise up, unite, and at least see to it I got reefed. But that’s what I love about the story, its willingness to bad mouth its own town, its own people. Whereas most of the people in the world are beaming with civic hometown pride, these are smart enough to figure out that there’s a lot of bad stuff going on right here, right now.
  
  If you decide to read “City of Bohane”, and I heartily recommend you do read it, do yourself a favor. The argot of “City of Bohane” is an Irish lyrical miracle. Once you are in the rhythmic spirit of the language, you will be entranced. One thing I would suggest. Once you have read the first chapter which is nine pages, go back and read it again. The language here is so unique from anything I had encountered before, it was necessary for me to re-read to fully appreciate it. After that I could delight in each sentence of this wonderful novel.
  
  The year is 2053 Placing the story in the future, Kevin Barry was not limited by the constraints of realism. He could let his imagination soar, and that it does. Bohane is a fantastical city in western Ireland. I’m sure the real cities there are reputable places, but Bohane is a dark decadent city subject to all out gang warfare between the families of the Northside Rises and the families of the Bohane Back Trace. Logan Hartnett, the Long Fella from the Back Trace, rules the Hartnett Fancy who has owned Bohane for the last twenty years. But the Northside Rises scuts are threatening to rise up. And the Gant Broderick, the man Hartnett defeated twenty years ago and whose girlfriend Macu he stole, is back in town. Then there are the strange tribes of Pikeys who live out in the dunes.
  
  “No argument: it is a thin enough layer of civilization we have laid over us out in Bohane.”
  
  There are a lot of knifings. Guys get ‘reefed’ or schkelped’ often in Bohane. There are a lot of other things to disapprove of going on. There’s a lot of talk of hoors, sluts, and tushies. Nearly all the people of Bohane are either drunk, high on weed, or both most of the time. One of the main characters is named Fucker Burke. The whole story is told in such a magical way, the reader lets it all pass since it’s not real anyway.
  
  Kevin Barry takes a special interest in the clothes his characters are wearing. Here is one example.
  
  Wolfie wore:
  
  Black patent high tops, tight bleached denims, with a matcher of a waistcoat, a high dirk belt, and a navy Crombie with a black velvet collar. Wolfie was low-sized, compact, ginger, and he thrumbed with dense energies. He had a blackbird’s poppy–eyed stare, thyroidal, and if his brow was no more than an inch deep, it was packed with an alley rat’s cunning. He was seventeen, also, and betrayed, sometimes by odd sentiments under moonlight. He wanted to own entirely the city of Bohane. His all-new all-true love: Miss Jenni Ching of the Hartnett Fancy and the Ho Pee Ching Oh-Kay Koffee Shoppe.
  
  The last time I encountered language so musical Irish was in “At Swim Two-Birds” by Flann O’Brien. It is this original voice that makes “City of Bohane” a special tall tale. My best take on this novel is that it is a twisted cross between “At Swim Two-Birds” and “A Clockwork Orange” by Anthony Burgess. These two novels are classics; “City of Bohane” makes three. Most of the novels written during the past few years will disappear with time, but I expect “City of Bohane” will last and last.
  
  July 14, 2013, 12:38 AM 0 boosts 0 favorites
  
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Posted by Lisa Hill on November 28, 2016 at 1:23 AM

I crossed her off my list of authors to read a long time ago. Irish moaning, no thanks!

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Posted by Anokatony on November 28, 2016 at 3:41 AM

Hi Lisa,
Funny you should mention it today. O’Farrell’s new novel ‘This Must Be the Place’ appeared on a couple of ‘Best of Year’ lists for 2016, so I requested it from the library. Then I remembered I had read ‘Instructions’ earlier and went back to my review. After reading your comment I cancelled my request. :)

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