2026 Reading Challenge discussion

*Featured Buddy Read*
This buddy read is featured on the homepage and is pinned to the top of the August Buddy Reads folder. Otherwise it works just like every other buddy read!

If you are new to Buddy Reads, check out the sign-up thread for instructions and to sign up for future buddy reads!

You can join in the discussion even if your name isn't on the list!

This thread is to discuss Land by Maggie O'Farrell.

Pages: 400 pages

Length: 1 month (August)

Participants: Odette, Valerie, M, Amitha, Randi

Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.

Here are some questions to help get the conversation started! Feel free to look up discussion questions specific to this book or come up with your own. Just make sure any questions that contain spoilers are under spoiler tags.
Discussion questions are not required but may be a fun way to talk about the book and get to know each other!

Prior to starting:
What prompted you to join this buddy read?
Have you read this author before? What do you think of their other books?

Mid-read:
What character or ideas do you relate to the most and why?
Do you have any favorite quotes or scenes?

After reading:
What was enjoyable or not-so-enjoyable about this book?
Did this book change your perception about anything, either within the book (character development) or in real life?

I've been in the slumpiest of reading slumps this year but I'm looking forward to reading another book from this author.
If anyone can pull me out, I believe Maggie can haha.

My Libby hold says 2 weeks...
:)

I’ve read Hamnet, The Marriage Portrait and The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox. I really love her writing, so I’m looking forward to start this in a couple of weeks.

This is my first by Maggie! Looking forward to this one. My libby hold says it's available soon :)

I've heard so much about this author though never read her work. I have this book in my kindle, so gonna start from tomorrow. If I love this, I'll pick Hamnet as my next. I'm looking forward to read this with you all. Thanks!

After being in a reading slump while I have been travelling for the last month. I am looking forward to this book. I will be starting soon as it is now on my kindle. This is also my first by Maggie!

I have read (and loved) every Maggie O"Farrell book. About 60 pages in and looking guard to hearing what others think

I would like to join this buddy, read.

Looking forward to this discussion & will start reading today. I also have Hamnet by O' Farrell but have not read that book either.

I have finished reading Part 1. It took a little while to get into the book, as it seemed to jump back and forth between different time-lines.
The first part is bleak in places (view spoiler)[especially the heartbreaking scenes of the Great Hunger when Tomas was a young boy. (hide spoiler)]
I am enjoying the author's style of writing,

Yes, Odette I too found the time-lines confusing & the book would have been written better if the author prefaced the year, she was writing about
I fine I am liking Rose the best of the children with the bog just confusing.

Also finished part 1. I found the evocative and atmospheric writing drew me quickly into the story and the three timeline structure added to the interest (view spoiler)[ I’m intrigued to know what Liam has done in India, I’m assuming he’s in the army or part of the East India Company (hide spoiler)]. It’s certainly grim in places but couldn’t be otherwise given the subject. I agree that (view spoiler)[ what exactly happened to cause Tomas to have his epiphany is not very clear but maybe that is deliberate (hide spoiler)]. Liking it so far.

I have finished Part 2, which provides a backstory to the sacred spring/well, (view spoiler)[which was a site of worship in pagan times and perhaps later co-opted by the Church. (hide spoiler)] The story of (view spoiler)[ Brith, the bronze age girl and her dog was captivating, as was the subsequent history of the area. (hide spoiler)]
Valerie, Liam's situation (view spoiler)[ becomes clearer at start of Part 3. (hide spoiler)]
There are so many themes running through this book. (view spoiler)[A theme I picked up in this part is the permanence of land versus the impermanence of human life. (hide spoiler)] It more than the story of an Irish family suffering through the famine and its after-effects.
I cannot wait to read more of this book, which has cured my reading slump!

Part 2. I found this part quite captivating. The backstory of the sacred well was particularly interesting (view spoiler)[ as I come from an area of peat bogs and a preserved Bronze Age body was discovered in one. His violent but ritualistic death suggests human sacrifice (hide spoiler)].
I like the way all four children are equally depicted and rounded out. My favourite is Enda (view spoiler)[ although she will probably now be trapped by responsibility despite her wild and wonderful ways. I’m guessing that Liam becomes a missionary maybe? Rose seems to find a calm contentment in her world, whilst Eugene seems to have created his own (hide spoiler)].
I like the very light touches of magic that she adds to the reality of their lives.

Sorry all, I have officially DNF'ed this one. I just could NOT get into it and found myself very bored. I hope you all enjoy it and maybe I'll try again in the future!

I haven’t started it yet as I’m finishing up a few other books this weekend. I’m loving all the discussions going on about it and I’m really hoping to start it soon hopefully by early next week.

Part 3. Well that had some interesting twists and turns (view spoiler)[ and didn’t go the way I was expecting. I’m glad Enda made her escape (although it’s tough on Rose who got landed with all the responsibility). Both girls have it tough but they are both resilient and resourceful in their different ways so we will see. Liam seems lost and needs to find himself (maybe the situation in India is part of this). I thought it was mean of the author to injure Tomas (seemed a bit excessive) but maybe it was a mechanism to set him on his own journey of discovery? (hide spoiler)]
It will be interesting to see how this all plays out in the final part.

I have finished the book now. It was a very immersive read for me and had to keep going with it. I found it uplifting, but at the same time tragic .
Valerie, there are certainly twists and turns. There are so many misfortunes and challenges for this family to endure. (view spoiler)[Perhaps lack of effective means of communication and also misdirected communications did not help. (hide spoiler)]
I will not comment too much until I have had more time to think about it.

Started this tonight! Looking forward to opening those spoilers.

Glad to see you enjoyed it Odette! Especially since this was your first read from this author. I hope you go on to enjoy more of her works :)

M, hope you enjoy it. I'll be reading more by this author.

Finished. I agree, Odette, this is definitely a book to lose yourself in. I thought the ending was very clever and satisfying (view spoiler)[ even if accepting Eugene’s survival does require suspending disbelief and believing in a little magic around the well. It was nice to see him at the centre rather than at the edge of things. I can see that Rose and Enda combining their strengths and supporting each other would allow them to thrive despite life’s challenges. As for Liam, he came full circle to maybe find his true nature. I did think that the girls and Liam would find each other (with Eugene being dead) but actually the way things turned out works better. (hide spoiler)].

I'm making my way through Part 2 and I was not emotionally ready for (view spoiler)[ Brith and her dog (hide spoiler)]
The way Maggie's writing just locks me in! I'm enjoying this very much.

This was a very powerful and memorable read. The ending took me by surprise. (view spoiler)[Not everything was neatly resolved. I felt a bit disappointed that Liam failed to connect with Eugene. It seemed to me that Eugene had become part of the land, and out of reach. (hide spoiler)]. Otherwise, I agree with Valerie that it is a satisfying end to the book.
There is so much I liked about this book. The numerous themes the author covered in this book are so thought provoking. M, I agree her writing locks you in and is brilliant. Hope you are still enjoying it.

I'm so glad you enjoyed it Odette!
I started a new job this week so my reading slowed down a bit but I finished the second part - cried lol - and am slowly making my way to the end :)
I think if anyone new to this author has really liked this one, I'd highly recommend Hamnet for similar vibes.

Glad that you all enjoyed, however, i read 15% and DNF’ed for now. I just couldn’t get into it. Probably might pick up later. It was fun to read all your comments though.

Amitha wrote: "Glad that you all enjoyed, however, i read 15% and DNF’ed for now. I just couldn’t get into it. Probably might pick up later. It was fun to read all your comments though."

Bummer you didn't enjoy it Amitha. Sometimes stories don't come to us at the right time. I get that :)

I am reading this now. I like it so far!

I am halfway through Part 2. I loved the way the author went back in time to the bog girl and subsequent people on that piece of land. I just got to the part where Eugene (view spoiler)[ found the ring and the girl's remains (hide spoiler)] and am curious how it all ties together.

I finished this last night and boy oh boy was I crying. This is exactly the kind of devastating beauty I expect from this author.
(view spoiler)[Of course, any animal coming to a violent end really gets me but even more so was that Liam never got to see his sisters again.
I did not expect that Eugene would have lived but when it's revealed, it felt satisfying to me.
"There’s one among us who needs such things and we must let him have them, for he is so old and wise that he could tell you all about the history of the land, should he wish to do so." (hide spoiler)]
I really enjoyed this, more so than Hamnet.