First published 2022
Ryan Cusack believes he can control his story through music, but the past refuses to stay buried. Georgie, who once worked as a sex worker, wants the truth about Ryan revealed to the world. A journalist circles, though her motives remain unclear. Meanwhile, Mel returns from Britain unprepared for the family scandal that has erupted in her absence. Karine, always confident in her choices, discovers a devastating secret that shakes everything she believed about herself. Maureen senses change coming and determines that if anyone will tell this story, it will be her. As these women navigate their connections to Ryan and each other, questions of motherhood, nationalism, and identity collide in contemporary Ireland. The novel explores how secrets bind and destroy families, how women claim their narratives, and how the past demands its reckoning.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, contemporary, 21st-century, contemporary-romance, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Britain, Ireland
Period: contemporary
352 pages · Paperback · John Murray
Content warnings: emotional-abuse, sexism