The quietest life can resonate the longest. A beautiful, bittersweet masterpiece about a remarkable journey of the heart

SHORTLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL IMPAC DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD 2015

LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD 2014

Someone begins on the stoop of a Brooklyn apartment building where Marie is waiting for her father to come home from work. It is the 1920s and in her Irish-American enclave the stories of her neighbours unfold before her short-sighted eyes.

As the years pass Marie's own history plays out against the backdrop of a changing world. This is the story of one life in all its devastating pains and unexpected joys; its bursts of brilliant clarity and moments of profound confusion.

Fragments of a curious childhood, of adolescent sexual awakenings, of motherhood and, finally, old age are pieced together in this resonant tale of an unremarkable, unforgettable woman.

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'A beautiful book' Sunday Telegraph

'Masterful' Irish Times

'Exquisite' New York Times