Reading Group: Golden Child (Saturday)

Saturday 8 January - 15.30-17.00

In January the Reading Group will discuss Golden Child, the debut novel by Claire Adam that won the Desmond Elliott Prize in 2019.

Rural Trinidad: a brick house on stilts surrounded by bush; a family, quietly surviving, just trying to live a decent life in a society.

Clyde, the father, works long, exhausting shifts at the petroleum plant in southern Trinidad; Joy, his wife, looks after the home. Their two sons, 13 years old, wake early every morning to travel to the capital, Port of Spain, for school. They are twins but nothing alike: Paul has always been considered odd while Peter is widely believed to be a genius, destined for greatness.

When Paul goes walking in the bush one afternoon and doesn't come home, Clyde is forced to go looking for him, this child who has caused him endless trouble already, and whom he has never really understood. And as the hours turn to days, and Clyde begins to understand Paul's fate, his world shatters - leaving him faced with a decision no parent should ever have to make.

Claire Adam's devastating first novel compassionately brings to life different ways of experiencing the world. Like the Trinidadian landscape itself, Golden Child is both beautiful and unsettling, a resoundingly human story of aspiration, betrayal and love.

It's free and you don't need to book. For more information or to reserve a book call 720392 or email Jodie on [email protected]

Can't make it on Saturday? Why not come on Wednesday instead.

All events and activities are continuing as normal. If you’re attending one of our events, it's recommended that you take a lateral flow test beforehand wherever possible. Face coverings are mandatory in the Library. See our full COVID guidelines here.