A Week in December
By Sebastian Faulks

London, the week before Christmas 2007. Over seven wintry days, we follow the lives of seven characters across the city, from a hedge fund manager to a Tube train driver. Above the complex patterns of modern urban life, the writing on the wall appears in letters ten feet high, but the characters refuse to see it . As the gripping climax looms, they are forced, one by one, to awake from their blinkered present to confront the true nature of the world they inhabit.

About Aoife Mannix
Aoife Mannix was born in Sweden of Irish parents. She grew up in Dublin, Ottawa and New York before moving to London. Her first novel Heritage of Secrets was published in 2008. She is the author of four collections of poetry; The Trick of Foreign Words (2002), The Elephant in the Corner (2005), Growing Up An Alien (2007) and Turn The Clocks Upside Down (2008). She regularly features on BBC Radio 4’s Saturday Live. She has been writer in residence for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Poetry School, Spread the Word, All Change and Apples & Snakes. She has performed throughout the UK including at Latitude, the Big Chill, and Ledbury Poetry Festival. She has toured internationally with the British Council to China, Latvia, Nigeria, Turkey, Taiwan, Thailand, India, Norway and Austria. To find out more, please visit her website www.aoifemannix.com

About Sarah Parker
Dr Sarah Parker is an early career academic specialising in nineteenth and twentieth century literature. She is running this year’s Cityread Online Book Group.