Description

The international bestseller: a hilarious, heartfelt story of all-consuming and unexpected love
Shortlisted for a TikTok Book Award – Book of the Year (UK & Ireland)

‘If you’ve ever been young, you will love The Rachel Incident like I did’ GABRIELLE ZEVIN

‘Funny, nostalgic, sexy’ MONICA HEISEY

‘Hilarious, wise and wonderfully written’ GRAHAM NORTON

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Everyone in Cork remembers the Rachel Incident. But what really happened? It’s simple. It’s complicated. It’s about love, sex and friendship. It’s definitely about betrayal. And, above all, it’s the story of Rachel and James, two twenty-somethings who met at a bookshop, became best friends, and spent one unforgettable year screwing up and growing up.

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‘Reading it is like hearing your funniest, sexiest friend tell you the best story they know’ KATHERINE RUNDELL

‘Sharply witty, warm-hearted and wise’ GUARDIAN

‘O’Donoghue captures all the intensity of messy young love’ MAIL ON SUNDAY

‘A book full of love, and it is extremely easy to love reading it’ VOGUE

‘Chaos at its finest’ STYLIST

‘Easily 13/10 . . . Funny, lovely, romantic’ MARIAN KEYES

The Rachel Incident was a #2 bestseller in Ireland in June 2023

Publisher Review

If you've ever had a literary internship that didn't really pay you; if you've ever contemplated writing a screenplay with a friend; if you've ever been unsure what to do with your degree in English; if you've ever wondered when the rug-buying part of your life will start; if you've ever avoided going home or run out of things to say to your parents; if you've ever built your life and your personality around a friend; if you've ever loved the wrong person, or the right person at the wrong time... In short, if you've ever been young, you will love The Rachel Incident like I did -- Gabrielle Zevin, author of Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow The QFJ Index is HIGH (Queasy from Jealousy) on The Rachel Incident, easily 13/10. Funny, LOVELY, romantic, DRENCHED in nostalgia, it made me extremely happy (apart from the jealousy). I sense it'll be a BIG success * Marian Keyes * A book full of love, and it is extremely easy to love reading it * Vogue * Caroline O'Donoghue, where have you been all my life? The Rachel Incident is a transportive joy, a superhighway to young friendship. Big-hearted, witty and expertly crafted - I want to live inside this book -- Sloane Crosley, author of Cult Classic I haven't enjoyed a book as much as The Rachel Incident in a long time - so, so sharp, funny and painfully relatable. These characters defy tropes and stereotypes, they come alive on the page. I adored them * Laura Kay, author of Tell Me Everything * I really loved this book. It was gentle yet compelling and I was truly rooting for each character, even the ones I didn't like. Caroline has a talent for writing complex characters with humour and tact. The Rachel Incident kept me guessing while feeling deeply comforted the whole way through -- Emer McLysaght, author of Oh My God What a Complete Aisling A book I took to my heart. . . A truly lovely read; complex in its emotional range, funny, poignant, heart-breaking, beautifully plotted, with clever, pacey dialogue, vivid characters and a shocking plot twist that left me gasping in horror -- Barbara Trapido, author of Brother of the More Famous Jack I didn't know books could be this hilarious. The Rachel Incident is so warm and comforting, and the characters so real. I can't believe Rachel and James aren't people that I know -- I care about them so deeply! -- Annie Lord, author of Notes on Heartbreak I just had such a blast reading this book, honestly - it was sharp and romantic, and horribly funny, and so wise about love and youth. Glorious * Eva Wiseman * A gripping story, beautifully written, with an expertly woven plot, packed with charm and suspense that sneaks up on you and leaves you rooting for the characters and gasping for more. A masterful, mesmerising tale of the joy of obsessive and consuming friendship, the secrets that bind us, and the damage we can't help but inflict on the ones we love the most -- Justin Myers, author of The Fake-Up The Rachel Incident worked its way under my skin and into my heart and has stayed there for months. It's such a beautifully observed, open-hearted, clever, horny, desperately funny, joy of a book. It captures, with unique eloquence, those years in our early twenties when every feeling reveals an exposed nerve, when every small event is tragedy or ecstasy, when we're trying to shape, and reshape (and reshape again), who it is we want to become. I adored it -- Kate Young, author of Experienced By turns hilarious and heartfelt, breezy and bittersweet, The Rachel Incident is a full-throated, big-hearted romp through early adulthood -- Christina Baker Kline, author of Orphan Train Caroline O'Donoghue writes characters that just sort of melt from the page and into your life - they are so relatable, so likeable, so beautifully messy. Her story of twenty-somethings stumbling through life, trying to find themselves but usually finding awful rented accommodation and crappy jobs instead is instantly relatable. There is a dinner party scene so brilliantly staged and so exquisitely uncomfortable, I had to read it through my fingers, like watching some sort of horror movie. Books so rarely capture the sheer chaos, heartache, misery and euphoria of our twenties, effectively the internship stage of adulthood in so many ways, but this one does it effortlessly. A truly charming, moving, funny and sad novel * Keith Stuart, author of The Boy Made of Blocks * Caroline O'Donoghue shines a laser beam on young adulthood, particularly the crazy intensity of those messy, beautiful friendships forged in the fires of romantic crisis. The Rachel Incident made me nostalgic for my early twenties. But even more than that, it made me wish I could go back and hug the person I was back then and tell her she'll be okay -- Lauren Fox, author of Send For Me Capturing the madness and intensity of early 20-something life, with the added complications of the restrictions of Catholic Ireland, this joyful, passionate story from the author of Promising Young Women is at times spit-out-your-tea funny - and always a bittersweet delight * Bookseller, Editor's Choice * I can't explain the sheer unadulterated glee of reading this. It's so good and absorbing and funny and honest and horny. And when I finished, I was bereft ... O'Donoghue's observant, incredibly smart writing and character work and story are just the peak of modern fiction for me right now * Lizzie Huxley-Jones, author of Make You Mine This Christmas * An absolute pleasure is the only way I can describe the sensation of losing myself in this ceaselessly charming, vulnerable, atmospheric story of human connection and self-discovery. Fans of Sally Rooney and Coco Mellors will delight in the cozy Irish vibes and glimmering voice of Caroline O'Donoghue. -- Amanda Montell, author of Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language and Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism Completely engrossing, intensely intimate, full of wry wit and hard-learned insights about finding friends and holding on to love. I'm struggling to think of a single person I know who wouldn't love this book * Matthew Parker, author of One Fine Day * An amusing coming-of-age saga -- Ones to Watch * Sunday Independent * A sensational new entry in the burgeoning millennial-novel genre * Kirkus Reviews (starred) * Capturing the problems and intensity of early 20-something life, with the added complications of the restrictions of Catholic Ireland, this bittersweet story is at times laugh-out-loud funny * Best Magazine *