An urgent, memorable, gut-wrenching novel about motherhood, creativity and identity which is sure to get people talking.

A resonant and provocative novel about motherhood from the prize-winning author of The Devil I Know and Tenderwire

'Compelling . . This is a scorching read. I could not put it down.' - ANNE ENRIGHT '

Soldier Sailor is the most uncompromising, provocative novel I've read in quite some time. . . As honest as fiction gets.' - JOHN BOYNE

'A blistering account of that twilit zone of early motherhood.' - JANE FEAVER

Well, Sailor. Here we are once more, you and me in one another's arms. The Earth rotates beneath us and all is well, for now. 

In her first novel for over a decade, Claire Kilroy takes us deep into the early days of motherhood. Exploring the clash of fierce love for a new life with a seismic change in identity, she vividly realises the raw, tumultuous emotions of a new mother, as her marriage strains and she struggles with questions of love, autonomy and creativity. As she smiles at her baby, Sailor, while mentally composing her own suicide note, an old friend makes a welcome return, but can he really offer a lifeline to the woman she used to be?