by Anne Enright
First published 2023
Twenty-two-year-old Nell McDaragh has never met her grandfather Phil, the celebrated Irish poet who abandoned his family years ago. But his love poems feel like they were written for her alone. Restless and sharp-witted, Nell leaves her mother Carmel's house to forge her own path as a writer. Carmel knows Phil's poetry intimately too. She remembers the magic of her father's words and the devastation of his departure. When Phil walked away, he left behind Carmel, her sister, and their dying mother to pick up the pieces. Now three generations of McDaragh women must navigate what they've inherited from this man who was both gifted artist and absent father. Nell seeks her creative voice while Carmel struggles with old wounds that never properly healed. Each woman carries forward something from Phil, whether blessing or burden. The threads that connect them prove stronger than abandonment, weaving together a story about how love and pain pass from one generation to the next.
Genres: literary-fiction, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, lyrical
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Ireland
Period: Contemporary
276 pages · Paperback · RANDOM HOUSE UK