Cassie McCullough

He's a disappointed man who spends his days drinking.

And we learn later on in the book that Woodbine actually was quite the handsome and charming lad when he was young.

And we begin to see that there's quite a lot of foreshadowing going on by Andrew O'Hagan.

Here it is in the very first pages.

You could imagine how his whole spirit, as well as his famous good looks, his green eyes, came from a dream of the freedom that existed just beyond his dad.

This is Tully.

But the photograph tells a sadder story, the saddest one, because Woodbine had green eyes too.

So we know somehow that tragedy is lying ahead.

It's been foretold in the colour of the eyes.

That's either, you know, by inheritance or a rite of passage.

And the course is set.

So probably the true central character being Tully Dawson.

What do you reckon?

Who do you think is the central character or whose story is this, Kate?

Well, that is really interesting.

What a great premise for a novel.

So Andrew O'Hagan there was alluding to the two timeframes, Kate.

So the first half of this book is 1986 and it's summer.

So clearly the height of life, the golden hour of youth.

And the other half is autumn and all its meaning in 2017.