Description

‘A gorgeously wrought and moving read’ Irish Times

Kate has been trying to do things right. To mark an important anniversary, she plans an exquisite dinner for her family. Yet by the end of the night, the drinking games have ended in awkward silence, the guests have fled, and Kate feels herself spinning out of control.

Told across the decades, this is the story of a family shattered by grief, but tied by bonds too knotty to untangle. It’s the story of what happens when the past catches up with the present, and of why, despite everything, we can’t help returning home.

‘A natural writer’ Anne Enright, author of The Wren, The Wren

‘Finely observed’ Guardian

‘Gilmartin writes beautifully’ Sunday Times Culture

‘Taut, compelling, Enright-esque’ Meg Mason, author of Sorrow and Bliss

‘Exquisitely captured’ Daily Mail

‘A brilliant look at family dynamics Irish Examiner

Publisher Review

'Sarah Gilmartin is a natural writer: she gives us terrific, complex characters and strong themes, in prose that is fluent and charged with insight' - Anne Enright, Booker Prize-winning author and former Laureate for Irish Fiction 'I loved her clean, forensic writing. Gilmartin is clearly a writer to watch' - Clare Chambers, author of Women's Prize Longlisted SMALL PLEASURES 'Gilmartin writes beautifully' - Sunday Times Culture 'The search is off - here is our next read... Here is an expert writer... Taut, compelling, Enright-esque' - Meg Mason, author of SORROW AND BLISS 'Sarah Gilmartin's depiction of an Irish family across the decades leaves the reader in no doubt how complicated love can be. A brilliant debut' - John Boyne, bestselling author of THE HEART'S INVISIBLE FURIES