These Days

PRE-ORDER FOR APRIL 8, 2025

These Days – A Lyrical, Award-Winning Novel of Love, War, and Resilience in 1941 Belfast

🏆 Winner of the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2023
📚 One of Lit Hub and Zibby Owens’s Most Anticipated Books of 2025

From acclaimed Irish author Lucy Caldwell comes These Days, a beautifully written WWII historical novel set during the devastating Belfast Blitz. Hailed as “atmospheric and satisfying” by Hilary Mantel, this is a profound story of love, identity, and survival in a world torn apart by war.

A City Under Siege. Two Sisters at a Crossroads.

🌆 April 1941: Belfast has avoided the worst of World War II—until now. In just a few nights, the city will be shattered by relentless bombing, forever altering the lives of its citizens.

👭 Amid the chaos, sisters Emma and Audrey face life-altering decisions.

• Emma, engaged but uncertain, questions the path laid out for her.

• Audrey, in a secret relationship with another woman, struggles to stay true to herself in a world that demands silence.

As air raid sirens wail and futures hang in the balance, both must grapple with cultural expectations and personal truths, learning what it means to survive—and who they’re surviving for.

A Moving Portrait of Wartime Womanhood

Told through the voices of the sisters and those in their tight-knit Belfast community, These Days is a poignant exploration of girlhood, courage, and love during wartime, written with lyrical precision and emotional depth.