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All Among the Barley by Melissa Harrison

From the author of Costa-shortlisted and Baileys-longlisted At Hawthorn Time comes a major new novel, set on a farm in Suffolk just before the Second World War. We are giving away copies for reading groups to read and review.

About the book

‘A masterpiece’ – Jon McGregor, author of Reservoir 13

‘A work of rare magic’ – Helen Macdonald, author of H is for Hawk

‘What a brilliant and timely novel’ – Robert Macfarlane, author of The Lost Words

The autumn of 1933 is the most beautiful Edie Mather can remember, although the Great War still casts its shadow over the fields and villages around her beloved home, Wych Farm.

Constance FitzAllen arrives from London to document fading rural traditions and beliefs. For Edie, who must soon face the unsettling pressures of adulthood, the glamorous and worldly outsider appears to be a godsend. But there is more to the older woman than meets the eye.

As harvest time approaches and pressures mount on the entire community, Edie must find a way to trust her instincts and save herself from disaster.
A masterful evocation of the rhythms of the natural world and pastoral life, All Among the Barley is a powerful novel about the lessons of history and the dangers of nostalgia.

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Radio 2 Book Club - Winter titles

The Winter season of the Radio 2 Book Club is out now, with brilliant brand-new fiction titles to discover. The BBC Radio 2 Book Club is on the Zoe Ball Breakfast Show. It features a wide range of titles and authors, recommending great reads from both new and much-loved writers, encouraging listeners to perhaps try out a genre they might not have read before, and share their opinions and insights on the titles and great reads they’re enjoying right now.

Resources

How to start a reading group

Interested in joining a reading group or starting one of your own? Download our quick guide to getting started. You can also download icebreaker questions to help get your discussion started, and a social media guide to show how you can share your reading with others online.

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Discussion guides

We know how useful a discussion guide is for your book club meeting, so here you’ll find some recent guides provided by publishers. Free to download, you can use them to help choose your next book and guide your discussion.

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