Six Degrees of Separation is a meme hosted by Kate over at Books Are My Favourite and Best. It works like this: each month a book is chosen as a starting point and linked to six others to form a chain. A book doesn’t need to be connected to all the titles on the list, only to the one next to it in the chain.
This month we’re starting with Colm Tóibín’s Long Island which I’ve yet to read and am a little nervous about given it’s a sequel to the wonderful Brooklyn.
I felt the same about Louise Welsh’s The Second Cut, another sequel to a favourite novel which followed a couple of decades after the original, but loved it.
Welsh’s novel is set in Edinburgh as is Jeni Fagan’s Luckenbooth which opens just after Jessie MacRae, Satan’s daughter, has killed her father.
Jessie gives birth to a daughter she calls Hope leading me to one of my books of this year, Douglas Bruton’s superb Hope Never Knew Horizon.
Bruton’s book weaves together three very different narrative strands one of which is about Emily Dickinson leading me to Max Porter’s Grief is the Thing with Feathers whose title is a spin on one of Dickinson’s best-known poems.
Grief and loss brings to mind to the wonderfully named Mrs Death Misses Death by performance poet Selena Godden.
Leading me to The Lodgers by Holly Pester, another performance poet, about a woman who lives on the margins of other people’s lives.
This month’s Six Degrees has taken me from the sequel to a much-loved book to a performance poet’s debut novel about a misfit. Part of the fun of this meme is comparing the very different routes other bloggers take from each month’s starting point. If you’re interested, you can follow it on Twitter with the hashtag #6Degrees, check out the links over at Kate’s blog or perhaps even join in.
I too loved the Bruton (Was it you who recommended it? Probably), and Mrs. Death Misses Death. But as ever, your suggestions always interest me. So let’s see …
Lovely to hear that! I’ve been shouting about the Bruton as often as I can so it may well have been me. He’s such a talented, original writer.
Indeed. Quite unexpected. In a good way.
I have the same nervousness about Long Island. It won’t be long before my library reservation comes through so may still have some fingernails left by then
Fingers crossed for us both. Reviews seem to be positive.
Hope Never Knew Horizon sounds great. I’ve read one of Bruton’s previous books, Blue Postcards, which was fascinating, so I’ll definitely think about reading that one.
That one’s on my list! I also loved With or Without Angels. His books are so unusual.
Again, a great interlinking of books. Only one I have read so far is the The Lodgers, which does have a performance type feel in its execution of the story. I wasn’t bowled over by it unfortunately.
Thanks, Lucy. I had my reservations, too. Definitely read as if it was based on a performance piece.
Your path this time certainly takes me places I would not expect.
Ha! I’m not sure I expected some of them, either. All part of the fun of this meme.
Like you I went with a sequel as my first link, but then I went in different directions. I haven’t read any of your books, but the one I have had on my virtual TBR since it came out is the Max Porter one. I’d still like to read it one day.
Mine, too. I hope it doesn’t get stuck there. I enjoyed your chain very much.
What an interesting chain. I was glad I read Second Cut because The Cutting Room was SO dark, and this one was far less… er… gross!
Thank you. It certainly was dark! I was relieved that Rilke had aged well in The Second Cut. He’s the star of the show,
I haven’t read any, but these are great links!
https://wordsandpeace.com/2024/10/05/six-degrees-of-separation-from-murder-to-music/
Thank you, and for your link.
Hope Knew No Horizon is on my reading list for this month.
I think you may have seen mine already but just in case, here it is https://portobellobookblog.com/2024/10/05/6degrees-of-separation-for-october-2024-from-long-island-by-colm-toibin-to-swimming-to-lundy-by-amanda-prowse/
I’m so pleased to hear that. You have such a treat in store! And thanks for your link.
Such interesting choices. Satan’s daughter?!!
I know! It makes for a good story.
I loved the Screwtape Letters–hard believe they weren’t writtent today. Satan’s daughter woudl be an addition to that in my brain.
I was thinking about sequels that took a long time as my starting point but ended up going with a more obvious direction!
Fun chain!
Thank you. I’m amazed at such long gaps between some originals and their sequels. Perhaps there are characters that won’t leave their creators alone!
Very clever and interesting links, as always. I have Douglas Bruton’s Blue Postcards on my list for Novellas in November.
Thanks, Cathy. I’ll look out for your Blue Postcards review. I’ve yet to read it but I’m sure it will be good.
I too am nervous about Long Island, but I think that I’ve accepted the fact that Colm Toibin somehow never was my kind of writer…
I’m a great fan of his style but not so fond of sequels, hence my nervousness.