Reader Score
74%
74% of readers
recommend this book
WINNER OF THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL FICTION 2023
"Adroit, precise storytelling, atmospheric and satisfying; These Days is a novel of real substance." --Hilary Mantel, Booker Prize-winning author of Wolf Hall "What a writer Lucy Caldwell is. Emotionally astute, stylistically delightful, exquisitely lyrical. These Days grabbed me on the first page and left me breathless." --Louise Kennedy, Women's Prize shortlisted author of Trespasses "What a visceral, powerful, authentic novel! It's hard to believe Lucy Caldwell didn't actually live through the Belfast Blitz, it's so accurately depicted. I felt I was there with the bombs, the blood, the chaos, the fear, and the resilience." --Tracy Chevalier, New York Times bestselling author of Girl With A Pearl Earring "Lucy Caldwell's These Days effortlessly and elegantly transports the reader to WWII Belfast through the lives of women trying to survive the firebombing unleashed by the Nazis on the northern Irish city. Beautifully written, the novel is eye-opening in its frank depiction of a little-known aspect of the war, and life-affirming in unexpected ways. A must read." --Mark Sullivan, bestselling author of Beneath a Scarlet Sky "A highly accomplished novel that will surely become the defining work of fiction about the Belfast Blitz . . . sensationally good . . . It's the kind of writing you want to inhale and feel coursing through your bloodstream." --Sunday Times (UK) "Haunting . . . This fine novel by one of Northern Ireland's most accomplished contemporary writers . . . brilliantly evokes wartime love and heartbreak." --Joseph O'Connor, Guardian (UK) "These Days is an intimate celebration of sisterhood and a moving tribute to childhoods cut short by war. Rich in voice and beautifully rooted in place, Lucy Caldwell's characters leap from the page in all their joy and devastation. The result is a novel of stunning ambition." --Sarah Jessica Parker, SJP Lit