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It’s the first Tuesday of the month and Reese’s pick is in!
While some may expect celebrity book clubs to announce their pick on the first day of the month—many of them are starting to select new releases. And since Tuesdays are pub days for the book industry, it looks like the first Tuesday of the month is when we found out the selection now.
Reese’s April 2021 Book Club Pick
For April 2021, Reese Witherspoon selected Northern Spy by Flynn Berry. She calls the novel a fast-paced thriller that will leave you on the edge of your seat. Here’s the synopsis:
A producer at the BBC and mother to a new baby, Tessa is at work in Belfast one day when the news of another raid comes on the air. The IRA may have gone underground in the two decades since the Good Friday Agreement, but they never really went away, and lately bomb threats, security checkpoints, and helicopters floating ominously over the city have become features of everyday life. As the news reporter requests the public’s help in locating those responsible for the robbery, security footage reveals Tessa’s sister, Marian, pulling a black ski mask over her face.
The police believe Marian has joined the IRA, but Tessa is convinced she must have been abducted or coerced; the sisters have always opposed the violence enacted in the name of uniting Ireland. And besides, Marian is vacationing on the north coast. Tessa just spoke to her yesterday.
When the truth about Marian comes to light, Tessa is faced with impossible choices that will test the limits of her ideals, the bonds of her family, her notions of right and wrong, and her identity as a sister and a mother. Walking an increasingly perilous road, she wants nothing more than to protect the one person she loves more fiercely than her sister: her infant son, Finn.
Riveting, atmospheric, and exquisitely written, Northern Spy is at once a heart-pounding story of the contemporary IRA and a moving portrait of sister- and motherhood, and of life in a deeply divided society.
Initial Thoughts
Ooo this one sounds good! While she already selected a thriller this year with The Sanatorium (which I enjoyed), this one sounds a bit more like a mystery and character study. And I really like that it’s set in Ireland. I’m sure that we will learn lots about the politics of Ireland as well.
Stories about sisters are always fascinating from The Chicken Sisters (her December 2020 book club pick) to the highly acclaimed Long Bright River. Very curious to see how this one plays out!
I just downloaded it on my Kindle and will get to it after I finish People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry (which I’m enjoying so far!).
What do you think about Reese’s April 2021 pick?
To buy Northern Spy on Amazon, click here.
