Joan Lingard (1932–2022)

Interesting story set in Edinburgh where two sets of twins from the same family deal with the same issue separated by several years.
Half of the story is set in the present day (the book was published in 2005) and the other half is from a journal the twins, Lucy and Will, find in their house from 1796. Their mother works in the library and their father is a businessman who hasn't come home yet and doesn't appear when debt collectors turn up. The other story also has debt collectors but it's more complicated and there are debtors prisons involved. It's interesting to see the parallels. There's intrigues also with the Black Dagger Brotherhood in the past and in the end it all works out for both parties.
It's an interesting read and she does evoke Edinburgh quite well.… (mere)

"All they want to do is take walks, hold hands . . . but Sadie is Protestant and Kevin is Catholic, and in Northern Ireland those two don't mix" was the tag line to the Scholastic Book Club (or a similar one) in the late 70's. It captures the essence of this book, as it is not just the threat of bombings and the British Army that puts barriers in their way, but their families and gossipy neighbors. "Did you see your Sadie recently?" is one conversation that begins, and involves parents, siblings, and neighbors into the lives of this young couple. Also described are the propaganda that parents learn in their Lodge or in their pubs about the other side, then throw back at their children or at one another in a fit of anger.

And the bombings and threats become very personal in this book, as do the instances of young boys running around practicing shooting one another. It's very chilling, and all not so long ago. And still relevant in so many instances. While it is considered a "young adult" novel, it is geared towards the "adult" in that phrase and presents a young reader with realities that others of their age have had to confront on a daily basis.… (mere)