Where Are We Now?

A moving, funny and topical novel about lost love, growing older and the realities of life in a society that is still coming to terms with thirty years of violence from the author of Gull and Backstop Land 'No one is more acutely tuned to the heartbeat of Belfast than Glenn Patterson and no one is more skilled at capturing all its love and madness. He does so with both tenderness and humour' DAVID PARK Herbie has had enough. It doesn't seem like he has much going for him anymore. His wife, the great love of his life, left him years ago, his daughter has fled for the bright lights of London, and now he's lost his job too. But life has a tendency to surprise. When Herbie wanders into a new café in his neighbourhood, he may well find something he never expected... Could it be that life isn't finished with him yet? From the author of Gull and Backstop Land, Where Are We Now? is a novel about lost love, growing older and the realities of life in a society still haunted by decades of violence. By turns moving and funny, topical and sharp, it is a life-affirming story of a life not yet over.

About the Author :
Glenn Patterson was born and lives in Belfast. He has written a number of acclaimed novels including Fat Lad, The International, The Mill for Grinding Old People Young and Gull and he co-wrote the screenplay of the film Good Vibrations, based on the Belfast music scene of the 1970s. His first non-fiction book, Backstop Land, was published by Head of Zeus in 2019. He is Director of the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen's University. Glenn Patterson was born and lives in Belfast. He has written a number of acclaimed novels including Fat Lad, The International, The Mill for Grinding Old People Young and Gull and he co-wrote the screenplay of the film Good Vibrations, based on the Belfast music scene of the 1970s. His first non-fiction book, Backstop Land, was published by Head of Zeus in 2019. He is Director of the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen's University.

Review :
[Patterson] succeeds in creating a lively, colour-filled local population whose members also seem symbolic of decay, survival and renewal... Patterson, who has been a vivid chronicler of Northern Ireland over the past 30 years, writes with wit and lyricism and with such a profound sense of place that I found myself reading his words in a Northern accent. Glen Patterson, like Van Morrison, makes you nostalgic for a past you never had' Funny, touching, topical and entertaining Glenn Patterson is a civic lodestar in his native city, but mostly he is one of the handful of important writers this island has produced in 30 years. His 11th novel is bidding to be one of his best yet. Where Are We Now? [is] a measured work with all his gifts for identifying vulnerability matured and seasoned Glenn Patterson gives voice to the fear that when our children leave home and our relationships end, we lose grip on who we are... This is a beautiful novel from one of Belfast's most notable writers and it offers an opportunity for a lesson in healing and optimism for us all'