Product Description
Ireland produces writers the way some countries produce footballers, and the latest is John Patrick McHughSunday Times
One of the most exciting writers working in Ireland today SALLY ROONEY, author ofNormal People
Remarkable, rare and truly brilliant MEGAN NOLAN, author ofActs of Desperation
Dark, funny, honest and engrossing RODDY DOYLE, author ofLove
Refreshing and ambitious LISA MCINERNEY, author ofThe Rules of Revelation
Full of stylish brio COLIN BARRETT, author ofYoung Skins
Love.
You had to scrap for love.
In this stunning debut short story collection exploring betrayal and longing on an imagined island off the west coast of Ireland, John Patrick McHugh takes us deep into a community of individuals who are lost, yearning, and self-deceiving. We see two boys set fires while their worlds fall apart, follow a couple driving out to the hills in a last-ditch effort to save their marriage, watch a widow seek a strangers help to bury her grief, see a horse crash a house party. Whether falling in love or turning on one another the residents here are united by a quest for connection in the treacherous waters of small-town boredom.
In stories that are bitterly funny, profoundly moving and crackling with wild energy, McHugh embeds us in the fragile moments on which a life can twist and turn.Pure Goldheralds the arrival of a thrilling new literary voice.