Description

WINNER OF THE BAILEYS WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2016

WINNER OF THE DESMOND ELLIOT PRIZE 2016

We all do stupid things when we’re kids.

Ryan Cusack’s grown up faster than most – being the oldest of six with a dead mum and an alcoholic dad will do that for you.

And nobody says Ryan’s stupid. Not even behind his back.

It’s the people around him who are the problem. The gangland boss using his dad as a ‘cleaner’. The neighbour who says she’s trying to help but maybe wants something more than that. The prostitute searching for the man she never knew she’d miss until he disappeared without trace one night . . .

The only one on Ryan’s side is his girlfriend Karine. If he blows that, he’s all alone.

But the truth is, you don’t know your own strength till you need it.

Publisher Review

This year's Baileys prize winner, the interlinked stories of chancers, gangsters and no-hopers in Cork city, is crime caper, teen romance and blisteringly dark social satire all rolled into one. Angry, funny and full of heart * Guardian summer reads * A rambunctious portrayal of a swaggering off-kilter underclasss -- Patricia Nicol * Sunday Times * There is the humour and the sheer, seething, broiling energy of the prose, which is peppered with the kind of language your mother would call unforgivable. As in Roddy Doyle and Irvine Welsh at their best, it doesn't feel gratuitous. It just feels true * Sunday Times * A daring, exuberant and generous novel * Observer * All the trappings of a possible future classic . . . a fascinating and accomplished commentary on modern Irish life * Big Issue * Fiendishly hilarious * The Times * A superb debut from a confident and comic writer * Mail on Sunday * A big, brassy, sexy beast of a book * Irish Times * A spectacular debut . . . a head-spinning, stomach-churning state-of-the-nation novel about a nation falling apart * Telegraph * A rich, touching, hilarious novel * Financial Times *