Hay Festival has today announced a new Book of the Month campaign to celebrate new releases as well as older books that have a contemporary resonance.
The first book of the month is Colm Tóibín’s House of Names.
Each book of the month will be chosen by the festival team in Hay on Wye, taking into account recommendations from the public.
First published in 2017, House of Names retells the classic Greek tales of the house of Atreus, the stories of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, their son Orestes and daughters Iphigenia and Electra.
Peter Florence, director of Hay Festival, said: “Hay Festival’s Book of the Month is a digital extension of what we do at our festivals here and around the world, inviting our audience to join in with the sorts of conversations we have in the office: what can great writers teach us about our world today?
"Colm has appeared at many of our festivals and House of Names, merging the modern novel with ancient myth, feels like the perfect starting point for that conversation.”
Find out more about Hay Festival’s Book of the Month at hayfestival.org/book-of-the-month or explore #HayBookOfTheMonth on social media.
Titles will be sold in the UK through the festival’s online shop, as well as being available in all good libraries and bookshops.