AN IRISH EXAMINER BOOK OF THE YEAR SHORTLISTED FOR THE BUTLER LITERARY AWARD SHORTLISTED FOR THE KATE O'BRIEN AWARD 'Touching and darkly beautiful' Irish Sunday Independent 'Powerful, uncompromising' Irish Times 'Utterly absorbing, a novel that keeps you guessing right to the end' Kit de Waal 1982. Northern Ireland. Nuala Malin is tied to a life she doesn't want by her daughter Sam and baby son PJ. An affair with a seventeen-year-old boy reminds her of a future she hasn't given up on, but it can't last, and when her chance to leave comes, she takes it. 1994. If Sam Malin has a god then it is Kurt Cobain. Music is the only thing that brings her peace. She wants a life away from the North and its troubles, away from her da who can't talk about the past but seems stuck there, waiting for Sam's mother to return. A mother Sam barely knew. Escape seems out of reach until Sam meets a jagged, magnetic older man, drawn to him in a way she can't yet comprehend. She falls for him, unable to say no. Sam is more like her mother than she knows.

An elegant, atmospheric, emotional coming-of-age novel with themes of generational trauma, sexual identity and coping with mental illness at its heart, as well as the silence of women drowning in plain view in their daily lives. 'The Polite Act of Drowning is a beautiful and captivating novel, lyrical and sensuous, a precise and faithful evocation of the tumult and trauma of family life, and of emergence into adulthood, and the confrontation of truths about ourselves and the people we love' - Donal Ryan Michigan, 1985. The drowning of a teenage girl causes ripples in the small town of Kettle Lake, though for most the waters settle quickly. For sixteen year old Joanne Kennedy, however, the tragedy dredges up untold secrets and causes her mother to drift farther from reality and her family. When troubled newcomer Lucinda arrives in town, she offers Joanne a chance of real friendship, and together the teenagers push against the boundaries of family, self-image, and their sexuality during the tension of a long, stifling summer. But the undercurrents of past harms continuously threaten to drag Joanne and those around her under... Perfect for fans of Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owen

A surreal and darkly comic collection of stories that offer a fresh and irreverent look at life in contemporary Northern Ireland from “one of the most exciting and original Northern Irish writers of her generation” (The Sunday Times, London). Humorous and horrifying, tender and absurd, the stories in Quickly, While They Still Have Horses offer a fresh, irreverent look at life in post-conflict Northern Ireland. From first loves to strained relationships, the thrills and terrors of growing up to the dangers and challenges of parenthood, Carson infuses all her stories with empathy, dark wit, and a surreal edge. In “A Certain Degree of Ownership,” a distracted couple on a beach fail to notice their baby crawl perilously toward the sea. In “Grand So,” the ghost of a car’s previous owner haunts the backseat. In “Troubling the Water,” a rumor of miraculous healing creates chaos at a public swimming pool. Carson never fails to shock and delight as kids go missing in jungle gyms, a baby washes up on a riverbank in a biscuit tin, and a bloody hand appears (and reappears) in a refrigerator. Every so often, these stories travel into alternate versions of our world where pillars of fire are a new treatment for mental illness and animals deemed nonessential are going extinct by legislative orders. While the legacy of the Troubles is never far from Carson’s mind, it is only a backdrop to the worlds she’s woven in these stories, driven by characters who feel real enough to touch. This stunning collection marks the arrival of a “bracingly fresh, darkly funny, [and] unwaveringly compassionate” (The Irish News) writer to North American readers.

From the USA TODAY bestselling author of Sweet Thing and Nowhere But Here comes a love story about a Craigslist “missed connection” post that gives two people a second chance at love fifteen years after they were separated in New York City. To the Green-eyed Lovebird: We met fifteen years ago, almost to the day, when I moved my stuff into the NYU dorm room next to yours at Senior House. You called us fast friends. I like to think it was more. We lived on nothing but the excitement of finding ourselves through music (you were obsessed with Jeff Buckley), photography (I couldn’t stop taking pictures of you), hanging out in Washington Square Park, and all the weird things we did to make money. I learned more about myself that year than any other. Yet, somehow, it all fell apart. We lost touch the summer after graduation when I went to South America to work for National Geographic. When I came back, you were gone. A part of me still wonders if I pushed you too hard after the wedding… I didn’t see you again until a month ago. It was a Wednesday. You were rocking back on your heels, balancing on that thick yellow line that runs along the subway platform, waiting for the F train. I didn’t know it was you until it was too late, and then you were gone. Again. You said my name; I saw it on your lips. I tried to will the train to stop, just so I could say hello. After seeing you, all of the youthful feelings and memories came flooding back to me, and now I’ve spent the better part of a month wondering what your life is like. I might be totally out of my mind, but would you like to get a drink with me and catch up on the last decade and a half? M

In a web of lies, who can you trust? Ten years ago, Anna Clarke's parents disappeared. The mystery haunts her, and she hopes her job in a busy city Garda Station will one day help her find answers. The case of a man shot dead crosses her desk - and Anna is shocked to discover that the main suspect is her childhood friend Kate Crowley. Certain that Kate is innocent, Anna is determined to help her clear her name. But first she has to find her ... Tom Gallagher's son David is dead, and Tom believes Kate is responsible. Now his older son John is missing - unable to grieve for one son until he finds the other, desperation can cause a man to do terrible things ... Then the German Meier brothers descend on the city, intent on finding an item David had offered to sell them. Even Tom doesn't know where it is, but he suspects Kate Crowley must have taken it. Kate is on the run. She is trapped in the dead man's city - can her old friend help her find a way out? In a week where a political summit is taking place and the city is on high alert, Kate must struggle to stay hidden and stay alive. And Anna is drawn into the twisted race against time, falling deeper into danger.

Read the book that Kirkus Review called: "A complex, witty page-turner, ideal for YA fans of scandal and romance." Seventeen-year-old Isis Blake hasn’t fallen in love in three years, nine weeks, and five days, and after what happened last time, she intends to keep it that way. Since then she’s lost eighty-five pounds, gotten four streaks of purple in her hair, and moved to Buttcrack-of-Nowhere, Ohio, to help her mom escape a bad relationship. All the girls in her new school want one thing—Jack Hunter, the Ice Prince of East Summit High. Hot as an Armani ad, smart enough to get into Yale, and colder than the Arctic, Jack Hunter’s never gone out with anyone. Sure, people have seen him downtown with beautiful women, but he’s never given high school girls the time of day. Until Isis punches him in the face. Jack’s met his match. Suddenly everything is a game. The goal: Make the other beg for mercy. The game board: East Summit High. The reward: Something neither of them expected. Previously published as Lovely Vicious, this fully revised and updated edition is full of romance, intrigue, and laugh-out-loud moments. The Lovely Vicious series is best enjoyed in order. Reading Order: Book #1 Love Me Never Book #2 Forget Me Always Book #3 Remember Me Forever