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Our Fathers
Our Fathers | Rebecca Wait
Nobody knows why John Baird, a quiet family man, decided one day to pick up a shotgun and murder his wife and children. On the remote Scottish island of Skellag, violent crime is unheard of, and the killings sent shockwaves through this tiny community in which the Bairds were well-known and liked. Tommy, the only survivor of the terrible crime, has returned to Skellag many years later. Faced with this reminder of the horrors that took place amongst them, the community must ask themselves again how much responsibility we have to know our neighbors. What drives a man to murder his own family? And to what extent is Tommy his father's son? With unflinching candor and powerful prose, Rebecca Wait interrogates the damaging legacy of toxic masculinity for a family and a community. Brave and urgent, Our Fathers shows how deeply family can wound and how it can offer our greatest solace.
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jlhammar
Our Fathers | Rebecca Wait
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Our first six reads for #EuropaCollective! Thanks to everyone who helped with the selection process this week. It was so fun and I can‘t wait to read all of these with you!

SEPT23 Our Fathers - R. Wait
DEC23 A Novel Bookstore - L. Cossé
MAR24 The Postcard - A. Berest
JUN24 The Road to Dalton - S. Bowring
SEPT24 A Long Way From Verona - J. Gardam
DEC24 Belle Greene - A. Lapierre

I‘ll post reminders during the lead-up. All are welcome.

Sapphire So excited! 2w
jlhammar This will be very low-key. Simply to read the chosen book sometime during the assigned month, post your review &/or thoughts along the way and be sure to tag the group! 2w
jlhammar @LitsyEvents Please repost. Thank you! 2w
See All 17 Comments
Cathythoughts Thankyou for tagging me. I‘m excited to join in the reading 👍🏻❤️ 2w
Tamra Yay!!! So much delightful reading ahead! 2w
DrexEdit Looking forward to these reads! Now to track down a copy of Our Fathers! 😊👍 2w
squirrelbrain Exciting! And I think these were all the ones that I voted for! Thanks for doing this Jamie! 2w
GatheringBooks Woohoo! Thank you! 💕 So excited about this group. 2w
CSeydel This is perfect - thank you for setting it up! 2w
Deblovestoread What a great bunch of books will be reading together Thanks Jamie!! 2w
TheKidUpstairs Great selections, I look forward to reading with you all! 2w
LeahBergen I‘m looking forward to this! Thank you. 👏 2w
BarbaraBB Thanks Jamie, such a fine selection! 2w
julieclair These look fabulous! Please add me to the tag list. 😀 2w
jlhammar @julieclair Will do! So happy you'll be reading with us! 2w
julieclair Thanks! Looking forward to it! 2w
TheKidUpstairs I'm so excited for this one! Love the low-key and quarterly format. And the excuse to buy more Europa 😊 7d
64 likes1 stack add17 comments
blurb
jlhammar
Our Fathers | Rebecca Wait
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Okay #EuropaCollective, let the voting begin! I hope you haven‘t read either of these yet. I‘ve got back-up choices if you have.

Which of these would you most like to read in September? I‘ll add links to the Europa catalog in the comments.

If anyone plans to join us that I didn‘t tag, do let me know. All are welcome to read along with us!

jlhammar @Aimeesue Tag, you‘re it! You can go ahead and post your two nominations for December. 3w
See All 28 Comments
mcctrish Good lord, how does one choose?! I might lean towards Our Fathers only because I‘m not a fan of My Brilliant Friend 😆 3w
Tamra Ours Fathers - I have it stacked! 😀 3w
BarbaraBB Great choices! My vote goes to Our Fathers! 3w
Deblovestoread I‘d like to join if not too late? 3w
LeahBergen They both sound good. Let‘s see … murder and Scotland?… I‘ll vote for 3w
jlhammar @Deblovestoread Not too late at all! We‘d love to have you join us! Let me know which of these books you‘d prefer and I‘ll be sure to tag you in future posts. 3w
squirrelbrain I have a copy of Our Fathers but it‘s not Europa.. is that cheating?! 😬 I‘ll still vote for it though! 3w
jlhammar @squirrelbrain Okay, we‘ll allow it 😂 Just kidding, it‘s not cheating at all! Any edition will do. 3w
Aimeesue Our Fathers for me! The Kindle edition is on sale today for $2.99 if anyone wants an e-copy. (edited) 3w
Aimeesue @jlhammar I will peruse my giant Europa collection and post tonight! (edited) 3w
jlhammar Well, we have a clear majority for the Wait so I think we can call it! Our Fathers it is! 3w
jlhammar @Aimeesue Good luck! Can‘t wait to see which two you land on! 3w
Tamra @jlhammar 👏🏾 3w
LeahBergen Yay for Our Fathers! 👏 3w
lauraisntwilder My vote is for A Girl Returned, but I think I'm more than outnumbered! 3w
charl08 Can I jump on this read please? 😊 3w
jlhammar @charl08 Yes, please do! Just Our Fathers in September or would you like me to include you for all the #EuropaCollective posts? 3w
charl08 @jlhammar please add me to the posts- I'll do my best to catch up. 3w
jlhammar @charl08 Wonderful! So glad you‘ll be joining us. 3w
Adventures-of-a-French-Reader Both books seem very good ;) Whatever the community chooses, I'll read it! Love Europa Editions 3w
jlhammar @Adventures-of-a-French-Reader Fantastic! We‘d love to have you read along with us. I‘ll be sure to tag you in future posts. Our Fathers will be our September read, but voting is still in progress for December, March 2024 & June 2024. I‘ll tag you there so you can vote if you‘d like. 3w
Sapphire Please tag me! 3w
TheBookDream Me please! I adore Europa editions 2w
jlhammar @TheBookDream Yay! Glad you‘ll be joining us! Voting is still in progress for June 2024, September 2024 and December 2024. I‘ll tag you there now in case you want to get your votes in today before we close it. 2w
59 likes2 stack adds28 comments
blurb
Lynnsoprano
Our Fathers | Rebecca Wait
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This was recommended by a dear friend who has never steered me wrong. She usually challenges me to move out of my reading comfort zone, and it looks as if this do the same.

review
TrishB
Our Fathers | Rebecca Wait
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Pickpick

I really like this authors writing, she writes families, fears and miscommunications so well. This is quite a sad little read, claustrophobic setting on a small Scottish island, but I was engrossed as we found out what happened.

Cathythoughts Sounds a challenging read. Stacking 👍🏻♥️ 10mo
79 likes4 stack adds1 comment
review
Emilymdxn
Our Fathers | Rebecca Wait
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Pickpick

Short and simple but emotionally resonant. The only survivor of a brutal murder returns to his home island in the Hebrides to make sense of his memories and his similarities to his father, the murderer. I finished this in a few hours and maybe it won‘t stick in my memory loads, but it was nicely written and had very precise restraint, not too melodramatic. Between a so so and a pick but I recommend if you like a more gentle emotional thriller

thegreensofa Great review! 😊 2y
61 likes1 stack add1 comment
review
Anna40
Our Fathers | Rebecca Wait
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Pickpick

Tommy returns to the remote island Litta in the southern Hebrides that he left when he was a child. He stays with his uncle Malcom. Tommy, like his father, has a history of violence, which he tries to fight as much as the memories of the day when his father killed Tommy's mother, siblings and then himself. Tommy and Malcom's relationship is strange but intimate in its own way. Malcom's calm and kind personality, his cozy ... continued in comments

Anna40 ... house are a shelter for Tommy who has nowhere else to go. Juxtaposed to Malcom's house and kindness are Tommy's own violent nature, the horrible memories, his grief and the rough and stormy island. Part 2 of the book is banal compared to the clever, devastating, moving and beautiful first part. 3y
11 likes1 comment