Six Degrees of Separation – from Land to Into the Fire

It’s time for #6degrees, inspired by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. We all start at the same place as other readers, add six books, and see where it ends up. July’s starting point is Land by Maggie O’Farrell (2026). Land is about an Irish family in the 19th century, and is described as a spellbinding story of separation, longing, recovery, and survival as a family makes a new home in the aftermath of 1840s famine. It’s set on an unnamed, fictitious peninsula on the west coast of Ireland.

First Degree

I will probably read Land at some point, despite not being a big fan of recovery and survival-from- tragedy-angst, because I really liked her previous book, The Marriage Portrait (2002). That novel is based on the life of Lucrezia de’ Medici, who may have been poisoned by her husband. My review.

Second Degree

A more optimistic view of marriage is portrayed in Mrs. Hart’s Marriage Bureau by Sheena Wilkinson (2023). Heroine April has come to England from Northern Ireland in 1934 to find a career and winds up working for matchmaker Martha Hart. Will she be one of the agency’s success stories, in addition to orchestrating them? I had hoped to purchase the sequel while I was in Ireland but had no success. I’ll have to do a special order at some point. My review.

Third Degree

In The Marriage of Katherine by D.E. Stevenson (1965), Katherine has remarried and should be living happily ever after with her new husband, twins and stepson. Unfortunately, Alec’s spiteful sister causes trouble and her stepson Simon experiences jealousy from his Wentworth relatives’ scheming. This book mostly exists to tie up loose ends from its predecessor, Katherine Wentworth (and maybe please readers who wanted to know what happened next). Fan favorites, MacAslan, the local laird, and his daughter, Phil, make appearances.

Fourth Degree

One of my all time favorite books is Katherine by Anya Seton (1954), an epic historical novel about the 14th century love affair that changed history - between Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and son of Edward III. I’d like to visit Lincoln Cathedral where Katherine is buried. Next trip, perhaps!

Fifth Degree

For months, I had a book on my windowsill called Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center (2019) and I finally made it one of my 20 Books of Summer - 2021 and really liked it. Cassie is a firefighter who has accepted a new job on the north shore in Massachusetts, where she has to deal with misogyny, a difficult situation with her mother, and falling for a younger coworker. I liked that there was a lot going on but all fairly plausible, with well-drawn characters. My review.

Sixth Degree

Into the Fire by Gregg Hurwitz (2020) involves figurative fire as Evan Smoak, aka Orphan X, is a trained assassin who reinvented himself as the Nowhere Man, helping desperate people as reparation for the work he once did for the government. In this book, Evan is helping someone whose cousin was murdered and left behind a key. Violent people want the item linked to the key and every time Evan gets rid of one killer, several more appear. He spends most of the book severely concussed, which limits his usual superhero capacity and makes him very vulnerable - this is very disturbing to the reader, yet I think this is one of the best books in the series!

See how I linked a (presumably) starving Irish family to a somewhat reformed assassin in California, with stops in 16th century Florence, England, Scotland, back to England to the 14th century, and Massachusetts, along the way, mostly using the author's name or words in the title. Have you read any of these? Did you play #6Degrees this month? 

Next month, September 5, 2026 (Labor Day is late this year), the chain will begin with whatever our book group is currently reading. That should be interesting!