The Ninth Hour - Alice McDermott

How does it work?

For those of you who've not come along before, we'll read the book, then discuss it on the night guided by questions to keep us focused. It's relaxed, good fun and fascinating to hear the different perspective each person brings to the session. We'll do this over drinks.

About the book

The Ninth Hour opens with a suicide. Jim, a young railway employee fired from his job, turns on the gas in the tenement he shares with his pregnant wife, Annie. This being Irish Catholic Brooklyn in the early 20th century, the nuns are not slow to appear. Sister St Saviour – pragmatic, unsentimental, class-conscious – attempts to cover up the cause of death so Jim can be buried in consecrated ground, and gets Annie a job in the convent laundry. Catholicism, as rendered by McDermott, can be a cold, hard place, but within its world there are individuals of clear-sightedness and compassion.

Book availability

Due to the short notice change of book, best to get from Amazon paperback or kindle - it's a short book at 256 pages and we still have 2 weeks to go!