by Paul Lynch
Publisher: Oneworld Publications
Number of Pages: 416 (paperback)
ISBN-13: 978-0861543729
The explosive literary sensation: a mother faces a terrible choice as Ireland slides into totalitarianism
On a dark, wet evening in Dublin, scientist and mother-of-four Eilish Stack answers her front door to find the GNSB on her step. Two officers from Ireland’s newly formed secret police are here to interrogate her husband, Larry, a trade unionist.
Ireland is falling apart. The country is in the grip of a government turning towards tyranny and when her husband disappears, Eilish finds herself caught within the nightmare logic of a society that is quickly unravelling. Soon, she must decide just how far she is willing to go to keep her family safe.
Exhilarating, terrifying and propulsive, Paul Lynch’s Booker Prize-winning novel is a devastating vision of a country falling apart and a moving portrait of the resilience of the human spirit when faced with the darkest of times.
SHORTLISTED FOR THE AN POST IRISH BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023
SHORTLISTED FOR THE STREGA EUROPEAN PRIZE
A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
A NEW YORK TIMES EDITOR’S CHOICE
AN AMAZON TOP 10 BOOK OF DECEMBER 2023
A Book of the Year for 2023 according to the Guardian, FT, Irish Independent, Irish Examiner, Sunday Independent, Economist, Big Issue, Daily Telegraph, Irish Times and Waterstones
‘A CRUCIAL BOOK FOR OUR CURRENT TIMES… BRILLIANTLY HAUNTING.’ OBSERVER
About the author
Paul Lynch is an Irish novelist and journalist known for his powerful and atmospheric writing. His previous novels include Grace (winner of the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Award) and The Black Snow (winner of the French Booksellers’ Prize). Lynch’s work often deals with themes of survival, power, and the human spirit in the face of overwhelming circumstances.