In those days, from November almost right into April. The prose style mirrors this meandering and the layering of characterization is subtle but solid. This narrative decision won’t work for everybody because presenting things wholly from Idora’s perspective means that sometimes time passes slowly and there is lots of infolding as she reminisces, so the cathedral bells outside chime and she checks the clock and falls back into a half-sleep, and dozens of pages later - pages filled with memory and backstory - the clock shows that an hour has passed. It seems doubly appropriate for More to be Toronto’s One Book because it’s a novel told in One Voice, that of Idora (Eye-dora) Morrison, who was born and raised in Barbados but is now a Barbadian Canadian.

And so, it seems that Toronto’s One Book campaign is working. But certainly it was the irresistible charm of a large stack of new library books that moved this writer’s work from my TBR list to my TBR stack and into my reader’s hands in late March. That wasn’t entirely the case with the large stack of copies of Austin Clarke’s More, because I’ve been meaning to read one of his novels for several years now. And sometimes I borrow something completely unexpected just because it was new and in pleasant and abundant company. Often I pet one (even if it’s just a shinier version of a favourite that I have at home). Get more ideas for ceremony readings here.I can’t help it: when I see a stack of new books at the library, I am compelled to, at the very least, ogle them. Ceremony Reading: The Planter’s Daughter by Austin Clarke

We think it's a great option for anyone hoping to add a bit of moody romance to their ceremony. You may remember it from a well-known Bord na Móna advert from the '00s, and it even lends one of its lines to the title of Bell X1's second album, Music in Mouth. The Planter's Daughter finds the poet declaring his adoration for a woman he knows, but doesn't appear to have a relationship with, with lots of vivid imagery adding to its understated romance. This week's ceremony reading is by one of Ireland's favourite poets, Austin Clarke.

More by Austin Clarke