Why singer-songwriter Breagh MacKinnon of Port Cities loves the novel A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson

This interview originally aired on Nov. 12, 2018.

Breagh MacKinnon of pop group Port Cities is a singer, songwriter and musician based in Cape Breton. The book she's reading is A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson.

"The book I read most recently is called A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson. When I got into it, I realized that it's actually set in a lot of the cities that we were visiting while on tour. It allowed me to put myself in the shoes of the characters who were describing these parts of the world.

"The book centres around the main character Teddy who was a British air force pilot during the Second World War. The story goes on to tell how his experiences of the war affect not only the rest of his life but his whole extended family and even the generations that follow him.

"This story goes from 1925 to 2012, and each chapter of the book is set in a different year. It's not chronological, which means you're jumping around between different characters and different time periods, and it kept me curious. When it all comes together at the end, it's like the picture slowly comes into focus and it's a beautiful surprise."

Watch Port Cities perform their song The Idea Of You

Breagh MacKinnon's comments have been edited for length and clarity.