Book Buzz: Evenings & Weekends

Evenings & Weekends by Oisín McKenna 

It’s the hottest weekend of the summer and the people of London are ready to let loose. 

Phil and his housemates—including Keith, with whom he’s secretly in love—are planning a warehouse solstice party. Maggie, Phil’s best friend, is pregnant and wants one last hurrah in the city before she and her partner, Ed, move to the suburbs. A chance encounter on the Tube between Ed and Phil unearths a secret that they hid from Maggie for years. Meanwhile, Phil’s mother is in London for the weekend with some life-shattering news to share with him—if only he can make time for her. 

Between bachelorette parties and dips in local swimming holes, everyone is tuned in to the biggest story of the summer: a beached whale in the River Thames and the marine biologist who looks uncannily like Princess Di. 

Debut author Oisín McKenna brings London to life in joyful, chaotic glory. Sexy, sincere, and well worth an evening (or weekend) spent reading. 

Reviewed by Emma Radosevich, collection development librarian, Whatcom County Library System

(Originally published in Bellingham Alive September 2024 issue.)