The News Where You Are

by Catherine O'Flynn

Set in Birmingham, The News Where You Are tells the funny, touching story of Frank, a local TV news presenter. Beneath his awkwardly corny screen persona, Frank is haunted by disappearances: the mysterious hit and run that killed his predecessor Phil Smethway; the demolition of his father’s post-war brutalist architecture; and the unmarked passing of those who die alone in the city. Frank struggles to make sense of these absences while having to report endless local news stories of holes opening up in people’s gardens and trying to cope with his resolutely miserable mother. The result is that rare thing: a page-turning novel which asks the big questions in an accessible way, and is laugh-out-loud funny, genuinely moving and ultimately uplifting.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Humor, British Literature, Book Club

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Catherine O'Flynn, born in 1970, is a British writer.

Her debut novel, What Was Lost, won the Costa First Novel Award, was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award, The Commonwealth Writers' Prize and The Southbank Show Literature Award. It was longlisted for the Booker and Orange Prizes. She was named Waterstone’s Newcomer of the Year at the 2008 Galaxy British Book Awards.


Her second novel The News Where You Are, published in 2010, was shortlisted for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize, an Edgar Allen Poe Award and was a Channel 4 TV Book Club selection.

Her third novel Mr Lynch's Holiday is published in 2013.

Reviews

[Annet · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book about family, about life's pros and cons, outward appearances and what counts in life. I had to get into the story at first, wasn't sure it would really interested me. But I've never read a story written like this, quite unusual and good, fresh, original and it turns out a pleasant and quick read. I enjoyed it. 3.5 stars. Funny, yesterday I was looking to put the author's previous novel, 'What was lost', on my to read list and something sounded familiar about it... turns out it has been in my pile of 'to read' books already for some time. Can't be a coincidence, the style of this author does appeal to me.

[Andrew Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

If there were a movement similar to the food lovers’ Slow Food movement for book readers, author Catherine O'Flynn would definitely be a leading member. The Slow Reading movement would celebrate ingredients such as solid, traditional writing that is in no way flashy or trendy, but that leisurely cooks up an engaging and rewarding book using relaxed but excellent character development and employing skilful and plausible plots.
O’Flynn also manages to season her books with totally palatable sprinklings of large social issues. In the case of her first book, 'What Was Lost' (winner of the prestigious Costa First Novel Prize in UK and long listed for both the Man Booker Prize and the Orange Prize), the big issue was the troubling anonymity of many people in modern society, the disadvantaged in particular, especially in the context of large-scale urban landscapes. Buildings and town centres of an inhuman scale are also a recurring theme in 'The News Where You Are,' but the larger issue in O’Flynn’s second book is ageing. Anonymity also features again, but in this book it rears its ugly head when people are forgotten after their perceived usefulness has run its course.
The main protagonist in 'The News From Here' is a reflective forty-something TV newscaster, Frank, who is understandably preoccupied with death and ageing. His predecessor at the television station died in a hit and run when on the verge of retirement and his mother appears to be fading away in a featureless retirement home. When Frank reports on an apparently friendless widower who is found dead on a roadside bench, he becomes determined not to let the man go unremembered. In the process of his investigations and as the plot thickens, Frank gradually emerges as a totally sympathetic character, as do his patient wife and live-wire of a young daughter, Mo.
But all is not doom and gloom, O’Flynn gives Frank’s self-pitying mother some wonderful zingers. When Mo tells her grandmother that she’s been looking for fossils with no success, Frank’s mother tells the young girl to come to the retirement residence where she can find fossils eating in the dining room every day of the week. O’Flynn also wittily and effectively mines the comedic aspects of value placed on appearance that is part and parcel of being a television personality.
O’Flynn’s writing isn’t for everyone. If you prefer fast-paced action, plots with startling 180-degree turns, or zippy repartee, this book is not for you. But if you like characters who come to feel like old friends and physical descriptions that slowly but surely place you in a reassuringly distinctive, if dreary, landscape I predict you’ll love 'The News From Here.'
If I have any reservations at all, it's that the final plot revelation seemed a little bit of a stretch, but it's a very small quibble.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The News Where You Are, by Catherine O'Flynn, begins as a gentle character study of an aging news anchor, popular to viewers but something of a joke to his colleagues. Off the air, Frank Allcroft spends his time obsessively analyzing parts of his life: the legacy of his deceased father, his depressed mother, and his unfulfilling job. After the death of a close friend, he suddenly feels untethered and lost. To ease his conscience about the superficial nature of his job, Frank makes a habit of taking a personal interest in news stories that feature abandoned people. He explores parts of his town, old and new, and watches the march of time and its effects on the inhabitants and their attitudes. He visits the graves of those who die nameless or unloved, and in this he becomes involved in a mystery that actually wraps around his own obsessions with the past.


It’s at this point that the novel, set in small town England, becomes far less simple or gentle. By searching the themes of abandonment, the race of time, and the nature of friendship, the author creates a suspenseful, if untraditional, thriller that leaves you pondering how much of what we know-whether about friends or family-is actually real.

A main theme in Frank’s life is his late father, an architect, who was usually absent; Frank had consoled himself as a child by imagining that his father sacrificed his family for a greater good. His belief system is reevaluated when the buildings end up demolished. “As his buildings were bulldozed, one by one, Frank began to suspect that often what vanished revealed more than what remained.” His mother finds the demolition far easier to bear, and in most ways she is able to move forward despite her age and depression. She chides Frank: “Everything was a memento for you. Everything reminded you of something. Nothing was allowed to be forgotten. I can’t imagine anything worse”


Catherine O’Flynn writes in a beautiful prose that alternates between bitter and sweet, comical and tragic. At times she illustrates the pain involved in the most personal of disappointments without overwrought emotion. I appreciated that while Frank, the protagonist, is pensive, he never descends into the maudlin or pathetic. He still manages to go through his life with responsibility and acuity. Modern fiction is populated with plenty of self-absorbed and despondent characters, lost in messes of their own design. This novel is refreshing because Frank doesn’t fit that cliché; he keeps functioning and proactive, despite his inclinations to dwell in the past.

The denouement of the novel is complicated, and I won’t spoil it here. Much must be said, though, about O’Flynn’s fascinating voice and style of description as embodied in Frank. When Frank visits a dead man’s house, one who died alone and unknown, he imagines him “…diligently cleaning a house that would only be visited by strangers after his death. He thought squalor would have been less sad.” Or when observing a mental hospital converted into condos, he muses “who would choose to live in a place of former suffering? What level of hubris was required to feel so utterly undaunted by the past?” Lines like those stopped me in my tracks, wondering how a mystery novel could be so deep and relevant and still retain its suspense.
The mystery is a introspective read, and it left me pondering more about the people I know who are alone, who appear to be lost, and in comparison those who seem to have it all. This novel reveals that nothing is so simple as appearances. In all, I'd say this in the top five of books I've read in the last several years...it's that good.

[Mirakissanpoika · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the worst books I have ever read. I don't get the point of the whole book. Why even bother writing it? It's about nothing. There's no story and the book just keeps repeating itself. After finishing this complete waste of time, I felt cheated. I wanted to contact the author and demand compensation for my time wasted.

[Kasa Cotugno · Rating 5 out of 5]

How quickly the present becomes the past. How often do we truly enjoy the moment we're living in, appreciate the present, without gazing back in longing, ahead in fear or hope. This is a book about nostalgia, about longing for a past that never really existed. The past only seems better than the present because it is irretrievable. Near the end of the book, Frank tells his daughter that when you're young, life is all in the future; when youre old, it's all in the past. From the wisdom of her eight years, his daughter Mo replies that she lives in the present. Each of the principal characters approaches aging in a unique way, and Frank, who is only 43, is an onlooker, regarding his mother's decline (which contains not a few suprises), and remembering his architect father whose death at 51 may have been caused by career disillusionment. His father's buildings from the 70s are already considered passe and are being demolished sometimes just to create empty lots. He is also haunted by the death of his friend and mentor, a low level star of the evening news.

Reading is a subjective pleasure, but the craft of writing and of character building displayed throughout every page is so exemplary, it will be hard to top it. The exclusion of this book from the Booker's long lost issued last week baffles me.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought Catherine O Flynn's debut 'What Was Lost' was excellent and had looked forward to 'The News Where You Are' for a long time, expecting the same depth of character and slow pace as her first novel.

Sadly, I dont think that this one is anywhere near as good as the first. Although an easy enough read, I found it lacked suspense and the plot was just a little bit silly to be believable. One character stood out for me, that was Mo, the small daughter of Frank, the main character. Mo, like the heroine of her first novel was superb, written with wit and colour, but there was just not enough of her in the novel to keep my interest.

I felt that O Flynn had concentrated more on the buildings and history of Birmingham itself, indeed some of her descriptive writing about the buildings and what they meant to Frank and his family were quite beautiful, but again, not enough to really satisfy me.

Overall, a quick, easy read but plods along in a quite melancholy way really.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book, originally published 15 years ago, in a second hand bookshop recently and thought it sounded interesting. It was a really enjoyable read.

There's a quote on the cover from Fay Weldon saying it's a blend of Dickens and Alan Bennett. I'm not absolutely sure about that. I can't see the nod to Dickens, but can see some humour in it that feels perhaps more in line with Joanna Cannon or Rachel Joyce. I think if you like either of these writers then this would definitely appeal. It was warm and funny and had some great characterisation. Frank Allcroft, the slightly cheesy local newsreader with a heart of gold and a line in terrible puns is someone we can all recognise from watching local news.

[Tiffany Cole · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The News Where You Are" by Catherine O' Flynn

"The News Where You Are" starts with a walk, a revelation, and a death. Six months later, Frank and Mo, his eight year old daughter, visit the building that Frank's father designed, the building that will soon be demolished. Frank takes a picture of Mo standing in front of the building in an effort to prove, if even just to himself, that the building will be remembered.

This pattern of Frank feeling the need to remember the forgotten appears in almost every interconnected plotline: Why does Frank's mom act the way she does? Will someone ever want to purchase Frank's house? Is there any value in Frank preventing the demolition of his dad's last building? But the biggest question of all, the question that Frank investigates the most, concerns the glamorous Paul, the silent Michael, and the comedic Cyril:

How does Michael's death connect to Paul's death, and where does Cyril fit in?

Though loss is the focus point, this story isn't particularly depressing or sappy. It reads like a snapshot collection of pictures that switch between the past and present. "The News Where You Are" is a novel that executes reality very well. The characters easily feel like people I could've passed up on the street yesterday.

There is as much to look forward to as there is to look back at, and "The News Where You Are" does a beautiful job reminding readers of that.

_______________________________

My name is Tiffany Cole, and I'm a book reviewer for Suspense Magazine. I am also an aspiring young writer. Savior of the Damned, the supernatural/dark urban fantasy novel I've been writing and editing for five years, is one step away from the agent/publisher hunt. You can find me in many places:

writergirllw@yahoo.com
tiffanyrambles.blogspot.com
thesavior.tk
tcole.tk
http://tinyurl.com/27x9sdz {My Facebook}

[Tattered Cover Book Store]

Jackie says:

This is a little book, seemingly simple on its surface but deeply rich when you turn a closer eye to it. The surface is about Frank, a local British newscaster for a regional news show, and his reactions to the death of his famous predecessor, the demolition of some buildings his father spent his life designing, the reality of his depressed mother in a nursing home, and moving his family from the country to the city. But the undercurrent of it all deals with, essentially, what we do with old things: old people, old buildings, old jobs, old mementos piled in the attic. This is a book about reinvention and demolition and what is involved in choosing one or the other. To borrow a term from across the pond, it's BRILLIANT.

[Kirsty · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Catherine O'Flynn's What I Was, and was looking forward to The News Where You Are. Unfortunately, it felt as though a different author entirely had written this at many points; it has a very different feel to it, and none of the immediacy that What I Was comes with. The novel is readable enough, but it never really goes anywhere; it is certainly more involved in mundanity and the minutiae of life than anything else. The News Where You Are is rather a bland book, with quite dull writing and characters, and I found it almost instantly forgettable. It failed to hold my interest.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a big fan of O'Flynn's debut novel, What Was Lost, so I eagerly anticipated her second novel. Although not quite as satisfying as What Was Lost, The News Where You Are was a thoroughly enjoyable and satisfying read--combining humor with affecting examinations into the nature of loss.

Loss is a major theme in this book, as it was with her first novel. In this book, our "hero" Frank Allcroft is dealing with loss on all sorts of levels--the loss of his architect father's buildings (which are being knocked down one by one) and the loss of his friend and colleague Phil (who died in a never solved hit-and-run accident). As he shuffles through life, shackled with his corny on-air persona and a gentle loserish air he can't seem to shed (even with his own wife), Frank decides to investigate Phil's death on his own--seeking answers about why the vibrant and successful Phil made some strange phone calls to Frank shortly before his death and the connection between Phil and an elderly man found dead on park bench. Interspersed with this storyline is Frank's memories of his childhood--populated by his workaholic father and unhappy mother. As his father's buildings are demolished one by one, Frank realizes he must come to terms with his own past if he is to have a rewarding future.

As in What Was Lost, buildings and the physical surroundings of Birmingham play a large part in the story--becoming almost characters themselves. Like the Green Oaks Shopping Center in What Was Lost, buildings, new subdivisions and the assisted-living center become part of the story--given as much attention by O'Flynn as her human characters. O'Flynn tends to anthropomorphize cities, buildings and houses--imbuing them with meaning and personalities. I personally enjoy this aspect of O'Flynn's books; it makes for interesting reading.

"That's what I liked about this city."
"What? That it's crap and everything fails?"
"No. That it has these ridiculous dreams, that it always tries to reinvent itself, to be the city of the future, but then always changes its minds about what the future should be. I love the little glimpses you catch of the old dreams, the old ideas of what Utopia should be. I think if you get rid of the, no matter how embarrassing or naive they are, then you lose something essential about the place."

I think O'Flynn's greatest talent lies in the way she is able to capture with pinpoint accuracy and humor all the little foibles and interior conversations we all have with ourselves but rarely share. I saw so much of myself in Frank as I read--from his need to be polite causing him to be enmeshed in unwanted relationships to his sense of doubt in his own abilities. Consider this excerpt:

The motorway was quiet, but he stayed in the slow lane tucked behind a beaten-up van traveling at fifty. Frank secretly held a strong suspicion that he should not be in charge of a vehicle after dark. On city streets all was fine, but on country lanes or unlit stretches of motorway he was alarmed at the sullen lack of communication between his eyes and his brain. Something had gone wrong between them in the last year or two and now the brain would periodically choose to ignore or willfully misinterpret visual input. The familiar patterns of taillights, road signs and oncoming headlights had broken down into free-form floating abstract projections through which Frank hurtled wide-eyed on leather upholstery. At times he mistook the retreating taillights of the car ahead for headlights coming toward him, at others he would mistake reflections on his side window for vehicles swerving into his lane. His progress along a deserted stretch of motorway was often punctured by sudden braking at phantom hazards on the road ahead.

When I read this paragraph, I was smiling to myself as it is a perfect description of my own night driving. (And, if I'm completely honest, occasionally my day-time driving.) I'm forever mistaking leaves blowing across the road for squirrels and braking suddenly. I've hallucinated deer darting in front of the car that were merely shadows. O'Flynn is a master of this type of detail, and I think that is what makes her characters so believable and relatable.

Although the story has sad and dark undertones, O'Flynn never wallows in it or allows it to become overpowering. When Frank remembers his childhood, he describes his mother as having purple days and orange days.

On purple days, his mother pulls plants up in the garden, she looks out the window at nothing in particular for impossibly long stretches and speaks to her sister in a low voice on the telephone for hours. Sometimes she is cross at Francis, while at others, she doesn't seem to notice he's there at all.

On orange days she tells stories, she invents games, she takes Francis on expeditions and most of all she makes him laugh.

It is obvious his mother is suffering from severe depression, yet when Frank visits her in the assisted-living center, her unrelenting Eyeore-like gloom and refusal to admit to any type of pleasure becomes comical.

But the brightest light in this book is Mo, Frank's daughter. O'Flynn has a gift for writing children, and I would love to see her write an entire books from a child's point of view. (In What Was Lost, the parts with Kate were so endearing and charming that the whole book dimmed when she wasn't in it.) I also enjoyed the sections when O'Flynn writes as young Francis/Frank. She has a firm grasp of what it is like to be a child and how they view the world. Consider this excerpt where a young Frank is playing with his toys using one of his father's scale models:

Today, though, he was caught up in a difficult situation. An outsize Fresian cow is causing chaos in the shopping precinct. Francis had thought that this was surely the very kind of job the cowboys would be able to deal with, but they have shown themselves to be incompetent and cowardly, terrified by the sheer scale of the animal. They huddle at the entrance to the pedestrian subway. A British infantryman has taken the extraordinary decision to release a lion into the crowded precinct to capture the cow. His colleagues call for assistance, but everyone knows there is no direct vehicular access to the precinct. It look as if Little Cloud will have to save the day with a well-aimed arrow from his rooftop perch.

I feel like I've meandered a bit in trying to describe this book. From the book description, the book comes across as a bit of a mystery story. Yet I would hesitate to describe it as a mystery (OK ... I'll give it literary mystery) because the story is really more about exploring the nature of loss and how it infuses and affects our lives. Yet at the same time, the book is often very amusing and light. O'Flynn manages to work a whole lot into this gem of a book, but she makes is awfully darn hard to describe what the book is really like. So, I shall simply stop trying.

My Final Recommendation

O'Flynn's second novel combines humor with everyday life with heart-rending examinations into the nature of loss. A difficult book to pin down, I guess I'd simply say that if you like good writing that can amuse you while also making your heart ache, The News Where You Are would be a satisfying read.

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frank Allcroft is a middle-aged television reporter for Heart Of England Reports, a British news program. Content with life alongside his loving wife, Andrea, and their young daughter Mo, Frank enjoys his work but can't shake an endless nagging at the back of his head: the guilt he feels over his mother, Maureen, depressed and living in a senior facility. Frank's father, a renowned architect, constructed many buildings in Birmingham prior to his death -- but slowly, one by one, the city is now tearing them down.

Left only with a bitterly unhappy mom and sinking beneath the weight of his father's long-past inattention, Frank develops a morbid obsession with the subjects of many of his news items: locals who died alone, only to be discovered days -- or weeks -- after their passing by the odd passerby. Saddened that anyone should reach the end of life in solitary confinement, Frank makes it his mission to attend the funerals of these people -- a pastime that bothers Andrea.

It's one such death that hits him more deeply than most: that of Michael Church, a man he immediately recognizes in a photo because of his large, piercing blue eyes. He turns out to be the childhood friend of Phil Smethway, legendary local TV personality and Frank's predecessor on Heart Of England Reports. Phil died mysteriously -- and not that recently. A victim of a hit-and-run. Michael was found dead, cold and alone on a park bench. And Frank is beginning to wonder if there may somehow be a connection.

Though it took me about twenty pages to get hooked on The News Where You Are, I had a tough time setting the book down after that. Frank was a lovable hero: serious, but not dryly so; a man who took his obligations seriously and dearly loved his family; a good friend, employee, husband and father. Centering around Frank and his attempts to unravel the life (and death) of Phil and his father, he's someone who immediately endeared himself to me. Prone to melancholy but desperately trying to fight it -- and I could relate to that.

The novel's strength really comes from its dark humor -- O'Flynn's ability to create comical characters like Cyril, a barely-working writer who supplies Frank with his famously corny on-air "jokes" (he pays a pound or two for each), and Walter, a fellow resident at Frank's mother's retirement home who won't let Maureen's bad moods dissuade him from befriending her. Sprinkled in is that trademark British sense of humor, which perfectly balances out the somber subject matter. A few one-liners actually had me giggling.

More than anything, though, I'm walking away from this one with a greater understanding of what it means for something to be permanent -- and what we leave behind as our legacy. Frank is obsessed with the fact that his father's Birmingham is being torn down and replaced by "modern" buildings. Talking about Michael Church, Frank says:

". . . When you go back and scratch at the surface you find the people who knew him and who he'd meant something to or who he impacted in some way. He left traces. Then at the other extreme there are people like my father who leave behind this very tangible, physical legacy. Concrete proof that he existed, but if all his buildings went, what traces of him would remain?"

O'Flynn's insights into life and death were thought-provoking and very affecting, and I may or may not have been the woman sitting in Panera crying into her tomato soup right before I finished the novel.

I could go on and on about this one, but I'll wrap it up: a moving, memorable novel about family, friendship and what we leave behind. Read it for the lyrical writing and unexpected levity; finish it for the mystery and complex, realistic and endearing characters.

[Jason Pettus · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)

Although everything about it screams "pleasantly middlebrow British character dramedy," readers of the Booker-nominated Catherine O'Flynn's latest, The News Where You Are, should brace themselves for something a lot darker and more depressing; for in telling this story of an aging local TV news anchor, whose most lasting fame is among snotty college students in ironic love with his terrible jokes, right at the same time that the city he lives in is in the process of destroying all his late father's ugly old '70s architectural projects (which themselves replaced a series of crumbling Victorian buildings which no one at the time wanted, which ironically in modern times have now become highly sought after), O'Flynn's main message seems to be, "None of us appreciate things until it's too late to do anything about it, living instead in perpetual dissatisfaction and disappointment at the details of our lives, until finally the sweet release of death comes to us all." And that's a heavy message for what's essentially the story of a bunch of genial, middle-aged, middle-class suburban Brits, and the comings and goings in the small town where they live, which is why I found myself divided over my opinion of the book by the time I finished -- an interesting and well-done read but an undeniable downer as well, one whose pure banality eventually wears you down like ten thousand drops from a Chinese water torture. It's getting an only middle-of-the-road score today for that reason, and only a limited recommendation as well.

Out of 10: 7.5

[Elhara · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is because of quite good characters amid an interesting background that earned **. Unfortunately either of these, or both, could not relieve the monotony. I read on patiently for something to happen. Even a sub-plot, if you will, would have livened this book up a little.

[Jenn · Rating 2 out of 5]

That was significantly boring. The characters were boring. The storyline was dull. I don’t even particularly want to write a review. Not even the “exciting revelation” at the end did much for me. Can I get my two nights of reading back now please?

[Kaylie Longley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The News Where You Are starts and ends with death. These events shape life, and the necessity of ending causes some to become bitter. Some long for the past while others cling to the present. O'Flynn delivers a surprisingly engrossing and tender novel about very real people as they explore these subjects. Themes like longing and lost span each page, but O'Flynn's grace in telling each character's story is remarkable.

After Frank's beloved friend and former predecessor Phil is mysteriously killed in a hit and run accident, Frank becomes obsessed with death. Both Phil and Frank are (were) small-town television anchors. 25+ years Frank's senior, Phil is liked by everyone, corny jokes and all. His existence is just below the surface, due to hair dye and face lifts. Yet Phil always feared the future, and his passing shocks many. As Frank continues to deliver increasingly depressing stories, he starts to explore the passing of the lesser folk: those who have died without any kin, those left to the wind after a 30-second spot on air. One particular case of Michael Church becomes a mystery after he's found dead at a park bench, cold and alone. Frank finds a connection between Michael and Phil, they are lifelong friends from their time serving in the war. Before Phil's passing, they lost contact. Such abandonment of friendship makes little sense, so Frank digs deeper into the past. On his quest, he meets a variety of individuals, including Phil's much-younger widowed wife, Michelle, who hosts an awful reality show. Through Michelle and Mikey's friends, we learn about the feelings of uselessness that can come with age.

Meanwhile, Frank struggles to understand his parents. Interlaced with the present-day chapters are Frank's recollections of his younger self, Francis. When he was a child, his father was an architect and rarely spent time with his family. While Frank is absorbed with the past, his father always looked to the future. His buildings represented a legacy, but after he dies, all but one of his buildings are destroyed, to make room for casinos and the hubris of the present. While Frank is filled with sentimentality, his mother's melancholia shows a different perspective. As a child, she had "orange days" with laughter and imagination and "purple days" with silence and nothingness. Her depression extends into adulthood. Placed in a backdrop of ever-changing Birmingham, England, these differences in character are sharp and reflect their city, but the changes in tense are sometimes unfocused.

Though this novel may seem to be simply about the comings and goings of a handful of people, it delves deep. O'Flynn truly respects each character, as well as the novel's landscape, so she takes time to develop the book. Some may find the pacing slow at times, but each character feels real. I'd read an entire book from the perspective of Frank's 8-year-old daughter, Mo. Mo is always eager to research, unintentionally crack a joke, and has so much fire. Overall, by exploring the everyday, The News Where You Are carefully mixes humor, retrospection, and despondency, and it reminds readers that both nostalgia and progressive-thinking pervade and distract from the present.

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having enjoyed Catherine O 'Flynn's first novel so much, I was really looking forward to this. I wasn't disappointed.

Catherine O' Flynn has written a novel that is both entertaining and thought provoking. Peopled with authentic, well drawn, sometimes very funny characters. Frank a middle aged local news presenter is an unambitious family man who concerns himself with the sad, lonely deaths of people he didn't know. Frank pays the rather pathetic Cyril to write terrible one liners for him that he doesn't really want to use, but the dreadful puns have been an unlikely success. Frank's daughter Mo, a charming eight year old character, is on a mission to cheer her grandmother up, and enjoys hearing about Frank's father's buildings - one of which is about to be demolished. Frank begins to think again about the death of his predecessor and old friend Phil Smethway in an apparent hit and run, when he discovers a connection between Phil and another lonely death in the city.

This is remarkable page turner, that tackles big themes, family, friendship, the past and our place in it. The city of Birmingham is affectionately portrayed, some homage being given to our less glamorous buildings. Well written and thoroughly engrossing 'The News Where You are' - is a great read - and a must for Brummies, who enjoy reading about their city.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Een vlot leesbaar boek over familie, vrienschap, het verleden en hoe dit ons vormt, over verlies,...

"Sommige mensen zeggen dat ze de aanwezigheid van de doden voelen.Ze merken dat er iets in de lucht verandert en ze weten dat hun dode echtgenoot naast hen staat,....., dat hun dode vrouw nog steeds met de berg strijkgoed worstelt.
Sins Elsies dood heeft hij haar aanwezigheid niet één keer gevoeld. Hij zag de laatste ademtocht haar lichaam verlaten en toen veranderde de wereld. Ze was er niet meer.
Hij voelt haar afwezigheid voortdurend.
Het zijn bepaalde dingen:
het kuiltje in bed waar zij altijd lag,
de vorm van de barst in de vaas die ze heeft laten vallen,
en het is overal:
de lucht om hem heen,
de kleur van de nacht in hun slaapkamer,
de vormen die hij aan de binnenkant van zijn oogleden ziet.
Hij begrijpt het nu. Onze afwezigheid is wat er van ons overblijft."

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It's not the type of book I would choose to read but I won this in a Goodreads give-away so I gave it a go.

Catherine O'Flynn is extremely talented and brings 'Frank' to life so cleverly - even though he is a little weird with his morbid notebook I found him quite endearing.

There is a continual undercurrent of comedy and this is what makes this book. Even when death and emotional despair are present the glass is always half full.

I'm not going to tell you the story - you can read that from the other reviews. Did I enjoy it? Yes. Would I recommend it? Yes, I would. Well done Ms O'Flynn!

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Catherine O`Flynn`s books. I like that she understands the everyday moments of life can be hilarious, tragic, deeply moving and insignificant all at the same time. In "The News Where You Are" a rather stolid newspresenter with a provider of bespoke puns deals with life, his love for his family, his depressed mother, the buildings his father designed that keep on getting ripped down and the death of his much more successful friend. If it sounds depressing or boring it is not, but it is in contrast to the first book by the author a little too pat and arch but still a good read.

[Mary Lou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frank is a presenter on a regional news programme. He is a good guy, who tries to do a decent job, but finds himself increasingly over influenced by the sad reports he has to make on elderly peeople who die alone. He also does his best to deal with his mother who seems determined that her existence in a car home is to be a melancholy one.

This is a gentle, rambling novel with a moral. And unlike Frank's obvious corny jokes on air, which make him a sort of cult figure, it contains a multitude of unforced clever and witty pieces which slot perfectly into this warm but sad insightful work.

[Gemma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Receiving this book was somewhat of a surprise as I was expecting a different title from one of the site giveaways. However, I'm happy to have received anything so all is well!

While it didn't exactly set my world on fire, I did find it an enjoyable read. The characters are engaging enough that you care what happens to them but I did feel it was missing a little something. I'd say that I did enjoy it enough to be interested in possibly looking out other books by the same author.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm having a bad week book-wise. It's all been downhill since The Thieves of Manhattan.

I started this one, and it seemed promising, but ultimately it felt too light -- capably written, but not insightful or even particularly fun or interesting. It reminded me a bit of a Kate Atkinson novel. But her books tend to be funnier and more action-packed, if not high literature.

[Evan · Rating 4 out of 5]

'He understands now. Our absence is what remains of us' Heerlijk boek over vroeger, over loslaten en behouden. Vergane glorie, gesloopte gebouwen, lichamelijk verval, alles wordt uit de kast getrokken om duidelijk te maken dat mensen zich willen vastklampen aan de tijd. En hoe tragisch hun falen daarin is.

[Chris Chalmers · Rating 5 out of 5]

genius. loved every page. took me back to my childhood in lancashire where there was something slightly demi-godly about the regional TV news readers, naff as they were. there is one particular line in this book about a sausage that made me laugh so hard it hurt, and also wish that my dad was still alive so i could tell him.

[Anaí Palacios · Rating 4 out of 5]

"La vida en titulares" resultó interesante; si bien, a veces parece que la historia no va a ningún lado, el aburrimiento no cae.
Fue una sorpresa para mí, pues no tenía referencias de O'Flynn, una autora poco conocida en esta parte del continente.

Espero escribir algo pronto

http://www.revistalatente.com

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved the characters in this book, and the small, every day emotional moments. I thought the big mystery was pretty easy to figure out and anticlimactic, but it was pleasant to spend time in these characters' lives.

[Anton Segers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jammer dat er sinds 2010 geen boek meer van Catherine O'Flynn vertaald is. Ze schrijft soms wat sentimenteel, soms wat te expliciet, maar met het hart op de juiste plek, met oog voor de psychologie van kwetsbare mensen en het verlies dat de tijd en het leven met zich meedragen.

[Joe Roper · Rating 3 out of 5]

A slight story which does drag at times whilst at others being pleasantly gentle. I’m not sure the book pulls off the central thesis, not sure I got it tbh. The relationships between Frank and his daughter is well explored though.

[Cliff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Frank Allcroft is an anchor on a local television news programme based in Birmingham and covering large swathes of the West Midlands. The book opens with the death of his mentor and predecessor, Phil, who has become a celebrity due to having moved into national television. The back cover tells that Frank is investigating Phil's death. Really, that's incorrect as his investigations concern the lonely death on a public bench of Phil's old friend from their National Service days, Michael, who appears to have passed away leaving no family. The book also deals with Frank's father, an architect responsible for several buildings constructed during Birmingham's first period of redevelopment which in their turn are being demolished for 21st century redevelopment. We also meet his taciturn and withdrawn mother, who lives in residential care, and his precocious daughter, Mo. Frank's wife, Andrea, appears throughout the book, but I found it difficult to get a grip on her character or even appearance. The book is a musing on the effect of the past on the present and indeed future and also on loneliness.