#6Degrees of Separation – A book chain from Long Island by Colm Tóibín to Precipice by Robert Harris

It’s the first Saturday of the month which means it’s time for 6 Degrees of Separation.

Here’s how it works: a book is chosen as a starting point by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best and linked to six other books to form a chain. Readers and bloggers are invited to join in by creating their own ‘chain’ leading from the selected book.

Kate says: Books can be linked in obvious ways – for example, books by the same authors, from the same era or genre, or books with similar themes or settings. Or, you may choose to link them in more personal or esoteric ways: books you read on the same holiday, books given to you by a particular friend, books that remind you of a particular time in your life, or books you read for an online challenge. Join in by posting your own six degrees chain on your blog and adding the link in the comments section of each month’s post.   You can also check out links to posts on Twitter using the hashtag #6Degrees.

This month’s starting book is Long Island by Colm Tóibín. As usual, it’s a book I haven’t read but have at least heard of since it’s a sequel to his earlier novel, Brooklyn, which is still sitting on my bookshelf patiently waiting to reach the top of my TBR pile. Links from each title in the chain will take you to my review or the book description on Goodreads.

Long Island continues the story of the heroine of Brooklyn – Ellis Lacey – twenty years on from the previous book. Another book that revisits characters from a previous novel – this time ten years on – is Heart, Be At Peace by Donal Ryan. Set in a small town in rural Ireland, it’s a follow-up to his earlier book, The Spinning Heart. 

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan is also set in a small Irish town. It has recently been adapted for the screen with actor Cillian Murphy taking the leading role of coal merchant Bill Furlong.

Murphy also appeared in the 2006 film, The Wind That Shakes The Barley, about the Irish War of Independence which is also the subject of The Sunken Road by Ciarán McMenamin.

The Sunken Road was longlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction in 2022 but, sadly,  didn’t make the shortlist. The winning book that year was News of the Dead by James Robertson. Its three different timelines are separated by centuries but linked by a single location and an ancient manuscript.

Another piece of ancient writing – the Epic of Gilgamesh – features in There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak and the three main characters are linked by the rivers they live beside – the Thames and the Tigris.

Elif Shafak was one of the authors I heard talk at this year’s Henley Literary Festival. Another was Robert Harris talking about the background to his latest historical novel, Precipice, set in London at the outbreak of the First World War.

My chain has taken me from rural Ireland to wartime London. Where did your chain take you this month?