The News Where You Are

Frank Allcroft is a regional news presenter in Birmingham, England who has inherited his position from his recently deceased predecessor Phil Smethway. Despite his career success and family life, Frank becomes preoccupied with tracking down details about people whose deaths he reports in brief segments on his news program. Frank's personal life intertwines with his growing fascination with these forgotten stories, as he also grapples with memories of his late architect father and the deteriorating buildings his father designed. His eight-year-old daughter Mo provides moments of clarity through her straightforward observations of the adult world. The narrative follows Frank as he investigates Phil's death and searches for connections between the lives and deaths that surround him in Birmingham. His quest leads him through the changing urban landscape of a city that seems to constantly rebuild itself while erasing its own history. Through parallel stories of architecture, local news, and personal loss, the novel explores how places hold memories and how communities remember—or forget—their inhabitants. It raises questions about legacy, urban change, and the stories that fall through the cracks of public attention.

Readers found the book to be a quiet, thoughtful exploration of loss and aging, with touches of humor balancing the melancholic themes. Many connected with the main character Frank's understated personality and his relationship with his daughter. Liked: - Natural dialogue and believable characters - Subtle humor woven throughout - Depiction of local TV news culture - Treatment of urban development and forgotten places - Complex parent-child relationships Disliked: - Slow pacing, especially in first third - Some found it too depressing - Multiple reviewers wanted more plot development - Secondary characters needed more depth Ratings: Goodreads: 3.5/5 (2,800+ ratings) Amazon: 3.9/5 (120+ ratings) LibraryThing: 3.7/5 (300+ ratings) Sample reader comment: "A gentle book that sneaks up on you with its insights about mortality and memory. Not action-packed but rewarding if you stick with it." - Goodreads reviewer

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📚 Catherine O'Flynn worked as a postal delivery worker, mystery shopper, and teacher before becoming an award-winning novelist 🏆 The novel explores themes of urban renewal and the erasure of architectural history, drawing from Birmingham's real-life redevelopment controversies in the 1960s and '70s 🎭 The protagonist Frank Allcroft is partially inspired by ATV news presenters from the Midlands region of England in the 1970s 🏗️ The book's focus on demolished buildings and forgotten places was influenced by O'Flynn's childhood memories of Birmingham's changing landscape 📺 The title is a play on regional news programming in Britain, where local stations often use phrases like "News Where You Are" to differentiate from national broadcasts