"This LoveReading Star Book and coming-of-age story is a vivid, provocative, and beautifully articulate reimagining of Great Expectations."
Our June 2021 Book Club Recommendation
Click here to see our Reading Group Questions.
Heady, rich and evocative, and while a reimagining of Great Expectations, this debut stands as a unique and startling read in its own right. As a child, orphaned Kit finds the world of his Uncle and Aunt an enticing place to be, as he grows older he discovers that all that glitters isn’t necessarily gold. Gill Darling travels through three decades from the 1970’s, creating the most spelling-binding novel. She doesn’t flinch from the harsher side of life, and while building an enchanting world, exposes vulnerability, selfishness, and excess. The characters feel as real as can be, with a tapestry of traits they ensured my feelings moved through the gamut of emotions. While I knew this was inspired by Great Expectations before I started, I entered and read it as Erringby, completely absorbed and only looking between the two when I had turned the last page. I found growing up with Kit at times disturbing, while at others I relished his adventures, and the ending sent little goose pimples skittering down my arms. When I finish reading I always return to the cover again to see with new eyes, and oh what a gorgeously expressive and clever creation it is! Thoughtful and loving, yet passionate and provocative, Erringby is a truly striking coming-of-age novel and a deserves its place as a LoveReading Star Book.
| Primary Genre | General Fiction |
| Other Genres: | |
| Recommendations: |
Kit is waiting expectantly for life to begin. Orphaned as a young child, he recoils from his adoptive parents' mundane existence, drawn instead to the bohemian world of his Uncle Col and Col's charismatic wife Marianne. Amid the permissive atmosphere of Erringby, Marianne's rambling family mansion, Kit becomes increasingly obsessed with his aunt. One debauched summer, the eighteen-year-old Kit wakes to find himself in bed with Marianne. But what happened? And who is his sudden mysterious benefactor? As Kit grapples with the ramifications of that night, he, Marianne and Col find their lives spiralling out of control. Unfolding against the changing cultural landscape of the seventies, eighties and nineties, 'Erringby' is a captivating coming-of-age novel with echoes of 'Great Expectations'.
Erringby features in the following genres: Debuts, Recommendations, General Fiction, Fiction, Book Club Recommendations, Debut Books of the Month, Star Books, Family Drama, Sharing Diverse Voices, Narrative theme: Coming of age, Narrative theme: Love and relationships, Narrative theme: Identity / belonging, Relating to the stages of life, Relating to bisexual / pansexual / polysexual people, Romance / Relationship Stories, Fiction: narrative themes, Interest qualifiers, Relating to LGBTQ+ people, Relating to specific groups and cultures or social and cultural interests, LGBTQ+ Fiction
Erringby is available in Ebook, Paperback
Erringby was written by Gill Darling and published by Fairlight Books
Erringby has 336 pages
£8.09
