The Book of Tomorrow (2009) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Summary edit see section history

Characters/People edit see section history

• Tamara Goodwin: The narrator, who was a rich brat, but now has lost all her wealth and living with her uncle and aunt.
• Jennifer Byrne: Tamara's mother, a beautiful grieving widow.
• Arthur Kilsaney: Tamara's uncle; married to Rosaleen. Arthur & Rosaleen take in Tamara and her mother when their house is repossessed.
• Rosaleen Byrne: Tamara's aunt.
• Sister Ignatius: A nun who becomes Tamara's friend. She is the youngest of all the four sisters in the convent, being in her seventies, and she is also a midwife and a beekeeper.
• Zoey: Tamara's friend.
• Laura Ashley: Tamara's friend.
• Marcus Sandhurst: Young, handsome, driver of his father's mobile library.
• Weseley: Tamara's friend, Arthur's employee.
• Dr. Gedad: Weseley's father
• George Goodwin: Tamara's father.
• Paddy: Former groundskeeper of the Kilsaney Castle.
• Laurence Kilsaney (aka Laurie): Former occupant of the castle, which is now a site of ruins.
• Sister Conceptua: Add a description of this character.
• Mickey Mouse
• Fiona
• Mrs. Kilsaney
• Helen Fitzpatrick
• Barbara
• Johnny
• Mary Ellen
• Danielle
• Brian
• Mae
• Fitzgibbon
• Tamara Good
• Mildred

Quotes edit see section history

• “The word grief comes from the old French word grève which means heavy burden. The idea is that grief weighs you down with sorrow and all the other emotions.”

  Tamara

• “They just thought living in the country was having a bad effect on me. But I’d been trampled on like a plant that has been crushed underfoot but not killed, and just like the plant I’d no choice but to grow in a different direction than I had before.”

  Tamara

• “Maybe love is thinking that every time your partner does or says something mundane that you want to start a Mexican wave from here to Uzbekistan in utter delight.”

  Tamara

• “There’s a pride in building something up, working hard to achieve something. But it shouldn’t have been his manhood that increased with each new success, it should have been his heart. His success was like the witch in the ‘Hansel and Gretel’ fairy tale: it fed him for all the wrong reasons, fattening him in all the wrong places. Dad deserved his success, he just needed a masterclass in humility.”

  Tamara

• “Nobody who says as little as he does, is as simple as you'd think. It takes a lot not to say a lot,because when you're not talking, you're thinking, and he thinks a lot.”

  Tamara

• Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers

• You shouldn’t try to stop everything from happening. Sometimes you’re supposed to feel awkward. Sometimes you’re supposed to be vulnerable in front of people. Sometimes it’s necessary because it’s all part of you getting to the next part of yourself, the next day.

  Highlighted by 24 Kindle customers

• And then I felt sorry for God because I understood how it must be frustrating for him. He offers people a helping hand, but it often gets pushed away. People always want to help themselves first.

  Highlighted by 17 Kindle customers

• I wondered if my watching him from the armchair is what it’s like to be God, if there is a God. He sits back and sees the big picture, just as I could see that if the bluebottle just moved up a few inches, he’d be free. He wasn’t really trapped at all, he was just looking in the wrong place.

  Highlighted by 17 Kindle customers

• I used to think that it was better to have too much than too little, but now I think if the too much was never supposed to be yours, you should just take what you need and give the rest back. That way, you never have to give back the things you love.

  Highlighted by 13 Kindle customers

• Sometimes we have absolutely no idea where we are, so we need the smallest clue to show us where to begin.

  Highlighted by 9 Kindle customers

• What if, what if, what if . . . What if we knew what tomorrow would bring? Would we fix it? Could we?

  Highlighted by 9 Kindle customers

• It intrigues me how death, so dark and final, can shine a light on the character of a person.

  Highlighted by 8 Kindle customers

• Looking back on it, I realize the best way to make me appreciate anything was probably not to have given me everything.

  Highlighted by 8 Kindle customers

• Hope like that, as I thought before, doesn’t make you a weak person. It’s hopelessness that makes you weak.

  Highlighted by 7 Kindle customers

• It takes a lot to not say a lot, because when you’re not talking, you’re thinking, and he thinks a lot. My mum and dad talked all the time. Talkers don’t think much; their words drown out any possibility of hearing their subconscious asking, Why did you say that? What do you really think?

  Highlighted by 5 Kindle customers

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Dublin
• Killiney
• Meath

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Cecelia Ahern (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: PR6101.H47B66
• Dewey: 823.92

Notes for Parents edit see section history

This novel is about a female teenager who is very relatable, and the magical mystery is very appealing. There are scenes of smoking and drinking, implied sex, and some bad language as well as intense confrontations and lives in danger.

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › Contemporary