First published 2001
Maureen strikes a man dead with a Holy Stone and cannot bring herself to look at his face. The tall, skinny stranger in his black jumper lies motionless, his foxy hair now matted with blood. This single act of violence ripples through the lives of five people struggling on the edges of post-crash Ireland. Fifteen-year-old Ryan deals drugs while fighting not to become his alcoholic father Tony, whose fixation on their unbalanced neighbor threatens the entire family. Prostitute Georgie pretends to find religion, a deception that leads to dangerous consequences. Meanwhile, Maureen has returned to Cork after four decades away only to learn that Jimmy, the son she was forced to abandon years ago, has become the city's most feared gangster. As Maureen seeks forgiveness for her crime and a lifetime of perceived sins, she risks destroying everything Jimmy has built. Her quest for redemption threatens to drag the interconnected world of Cork's underworld into the light, forcing each character to confront how Ireland's past attitudes toward sex and family have shaped their present struggles.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, mystery, crime, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: dark, emotional, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: interconnected-stories, redemption, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Cork, Ireland
Period: post-crash
371 pages · Paperback · John Murray
Content warnings: addiction, domestic-violence, violence