07/07/18: The Bookshelf – Less by Andrew Sean Greer

What if you weren’t still over an Ex, and they invited you to their wedding? In the 2018 Pulitzer Prize-winning Less by Andrew Sean Greer, the eponymous Arthur Less has this very problem. Joining us for a hot-take on this bittersweet romance of chances lost and a wider look at memorable breakups in literature, are writer and Founder of Dubai Literary Salon, Hananah Zaheer, and Penny Mackenzie, long-time librarian at The Old Library and lifelong bookworm with a spooky knack for identifying prize-winning books.

The Bookshelf – An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim

After break-ups we move onto a tale of the ultimate long-distance relationship in debut novelist Thea Lim’s An Ocean of Minutes. As a result of a deadly flu pandemic, Polly signs up to a one-way ticket to the future to work as a bonded labourer in exchange for the cure that will save the man she loves. Polly and Frank arrange to meet 12 years in the future at a specific place, but Polly lands years later than intended and Frank is nowhere to be found.