First published 2014
Maggie Lynch trades Chicago's urban pulse for a small Irish coastal town in 1993. At sixteen, she feels lost in this windswept place by the Irish Sea. Her rocker uncle Kevin sends care packages filled with Spin magazine and Twizzlers, lifelines to the grunge world she left behind. Kurt Cobain's music becomes her soundtrack as she navigates this foreign landscape. Then love arrives unexpectedly, followed by devastating loss. Someone close to her lies dying, and Maggie makes a promise that will change everything. She breaks the rules and travels to Dublin's darker neighborhoods, then pushes on to Rome for one transformative night. The journey tests a sheltered teenager who must find courage she never knew she possessed. Music guides her through grief and discovery. Maggie learns that surviving means more than just getting by.
Genres: literary-fiction, coming-of-age, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Chicago, Ireland, Dublin, Rome
Period: 1993
235 pages · Kindle Edition · Elephant Rock Books
Content warnings: death