We Are Called to Rise by Laura McBride will be featured on the Radio 2 Book Club on Monday 14 July.
The book was selected with the help of a panel made up of Reading Agency and library staff from across the UK.
We Are Called to Rise
When an ice cream van is stopped at a cross roads, its brake light out, what are the chances its driver will be terrified by the police, his wife unable to communicate her distress as she tries to protect her children?
What are the chances that the brand new police officer on duty will be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, fresh from his third tour in Iraq? That he’ll pull out his gun, blinded by memories of war?
What are the chances that the only hope of happiness left to the broken family inside the van will begin with a letter from a man desperate for redemption, to do something good? And will Bashkim Ahmeti, our eight-year-old hero, let him?
Selection panel review
The book was very popular with our selection panel. This is what they had to say:
“Told in crisp, clear prose, we meet a middle-aged woman, whose husband is cheating on her; her soldier son and an Albanian refugee boy starting school. Their stories entwine and we know that we are in for a treat.”
“For a book that covers topics including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, bereavement, guilt and the care system, this story is wonderfully hopeful. You are rooting for the characters throughout the book, especially 8 year old Bashkim, who is given a wonderful voice by McBride. I defy you not to get choked up when the story ends”
About the author
Laura McBride teaches English at the College of Southern Nevada, and has lived with her husband and children in Las Vegas for 25 years. She graduated in American Studies from Yale University, and wrote part of this novel while in residency at Yaddo.
A word from Laura McBride
It’s thrilling to be selected for the R2 Book Club, and it is definitely the thing that most impresses the close friends to whom I have whispered the news. “The BBC?” they say, looking closely at my eyes for the alien who must have inhabited the body of their dear, ordinary friend. “Wow.”
In this whole process of publishing a novel, I am struck again and again by the generosity of people who simply love books. The independent bookstore owner, the multi-tasking librarian, the midnight blogger: people who use their precious time to read, think about, evaluate, and support books. Recognition from programs like the Radio 2 Book Club change the trajectory of what we all read and discuss – not to mention the paths of some author’s lives – and they cannot exist without the people who read mountains of books in search of the few. I’ve been a grant evaluator many times, and this sort of task – while a labor of love – is time-consuming and difficult. People who serve in these roles take their responsibilities seriously: they read past their own predilections and experiences, they think about the impact of their choices, they negotiate with other people in the effort. It’s high mental-demand stuff, done for love of literature and respect for craft. To whoever chose my novel, to whoever argued passionately for it when someone else loved another, to whoever graciously accepted another’s choice over her own, I am grateful and touched. Also: dancing on the tables!
Get involved
Win a set of 10 copies of We Are Called to Rise for your Reading Group by completing this survey by 14 July.
Tune in to Simon Mayo’s Drivetime show on Monday 14 July to hear a live interview with Laura McBride talking about her book.
Have you read We Are Called to Rise? You can share your thoughts on Twitter using #R2BookClub, and you can post a comment in the space below.
Want to find out more? The Radio 2 Book Club now has a dedicated Twitter feed, and you can also follow the author Laura McBride.
