Instructions for a Heatwave (Vintage Contemporaries) - Softcover

"Warmhearted. . . . Work[s] out who people really are, how ordinary lives can conceal extraordinary stories." --The New York Times Book Review

"Perhaps a perfect book. . . . Proceeding at a stately and crisp speed through a fully rendered world, grappling at all times and in an original way with the fascinating problems of our time, rushing head-long--and yet staggering almost drunkenly when necessary--towards a stirring and wondrous conclusion." --The Los Angeles Review of Books

"A thoroughly engrossing and suspenseful novel. . . . O'Farrell, in this beautifully written tale, gets the psychological nuances just right." --Anita Shreve

"A narrative of extraordinary power. . . . Big-hearted, psychologically complex, and utterly gripping from page one." --Maria Semple, author of Where'd You Go, Bernadette

"A beautiful book. . . . Spellbinding." --NPR

"O'Farrell has done it again. . . . There is a deliciousness to this novel, a warmth and readability that render it unputdownable and will surely make it a hit." --The Guardian (London)

"A rich, barbed interplay among siblings, who gibe, snap, and snipe as they go through their father's things, slowly teasing out one another's long-buried secrets." --Entertainment Weekly, Grade: A-

"Unputdownable. . . . There's always something so tender and true in Maggie O'Farrell's writing; a lovely ability to observe the smallest, most ordinary detail of family life and gild it with grace and significance." --Marie Claire

"Once again, O'Farrell demonstrates her mastery at depicting strained relationships, skewed family loyalties and the just reachable light at the end of the tunnel." --Minneapolis Star Tribune

"Superlative. . . . A Mike Leigh-style extravaganza of reckonings and reconciliations." --Vogue

"Well worth seeking out. . . . It might sound a little grand to wax lyrical about 'the power of the novel' and all that, but you know, there is such a thing, and this book taps into it." --PopMatters

"A beautifully written and perfectly observed story of family, secrets, and forgiveness." --J. Courtney Sullivan

"Just the kind of family drama I love. . . . Stylish, funny, smart, and skillfully written, and I could not put it down." --Jami Attenberg, author of The Middlesteins

"An accomplished and addictive story told with real humanity, warmth and infectious love for the characters. Highly recommended." --The Observer (London)

"O'Farrell is a deliciously insightful writer. . . . The final scenes of the family's trip to Ireland is as perceptive on the jaggedness of family forced together as Colm Tóibín's The Blackwater Lightship." --The Independent on Sunday

"Exceptionally good." --The Telegraph (London)

"Thoroughly absorbing and beautifully written." --Daily Mail

"O'Farrell is hard to beat. Anyone looking for a British equivalent of Anne Tyler need look no further." --The Scotsman