The Book of Tomorrow

It’s hard to resist a novel that hinges on a mysterious book discovered in a traveling library driven by an attractive man. In rural Ireland.

There is also the fact that Tamara, our teen protagonist, finds that the book gives her insights into the future, and perhaps even the ability to change it.

AHERN, Cecelia. The Book of Tomorrow. 312p. HarperCollins. 2011. Tr $21.99. ISBN 978-0-06-170630-1. LC 2010017858.  

Adult/High School–Tamara is 16 when her father commits suicide. The teen and her mother leave their “seven-thousand square foot, six-bedroom contemporary mansion with a swimming pool, tennis court, and private beach in Killiney, County Dublin , Ireland” and move to the country to live with her mother’s brother and sister-in-law. Her taciturn uncle is the groundskeeper of the nearby ruined castle. Her aunt seems to be keeping something from Tamara and trying to keep Tamara away from her mother. Family secrets, a local mystery, a bee-keeping nun, a sexy bookmobile driver, and a book that appears to be foretelling the future all combine to make an enjoyable modern-day Gothic novel, reminiscent of Diane Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale (Atria Books, 2006). The story starts a little slowly, but the promise of intrigue is there from the beginning, and teens will be drawn into Tamara’s story and attracted by her name-dropping yet self-aware narration.–Sarah Flowers, formerly of Santa Clara County Public Library , CA