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Home>Services>For Book Lovers>Book Clubs>This is How by M J Hyland
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| Story | | From the author of the Man Booker-shortlisted Carry Me Down comes a novel of remarkable power and resonance.
When his fiancée breaks off their engagement, Patrick Oxtoby leaves home and moves into a boarding house in a remote seaside town. But in spite of his hopes and determination to build a better life, nothing goes to plan and Patrick is soon driven to take a desperate and chilling course of action.
This Is How is a mesmerising and meticulously drawn portrait of a man whose unease in the world leads to his tragic undoing. With breathtaking wisdom and an astute insight into the human mind, award-winning M.J. Hyland’s new book is a masterpiece that inspires horror and sympathy in equal measure.
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| Author Details | | M. J. Hyland was born in London to Irish parents in 1968 and spent her early childhood in Dublin. She studied English and law at the University of Melbourne, Australia and worked as a lawyer for several years. Her first novel, How the Light Gets In (2003) was short-listed for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and the Age Book of the Year and also took third place in the Barnes & Noble, Discover Great New Writers Award. How the Light Gets In was also joint winner of the Best Young Australian Novelist Award.
Carry Me Down (2006), her second novel, was winner of the Encore Prize (2007) and the Hawthornden Prize (2007) and was also short-listed for the Man Booker Prize (2006). Hyland lives in Manchester, England, where she teaches in the Centre for New Writing at Manchester University.
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| Discussion Points |
| How do the themes of the dysfunctional family, madness and damaged souls play out in this novel? | | What major changes did you see in Patrick’s character throughout the course of the novel? What do you think triggered these changes? | | Why do you think Patrick decided to move to the seaside town? | | What specific themes do you think were raised in this text? | | What was the main message that you took away with you after reading this novel? | | What did you like/dislike about this novel? Do you think you would you recommend it to a friend?
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