Scenes of a Graphic Nature

From the author of Promising Young Women – ‘Whipsmart and witty’ Marian Keyes ‘Brilliant’ Dolly Alderton – comes a darkly comic and moving novel about going back to your roots – and digging up demons.

‘Do you know what cead mile failte means?’

‘A hundred thousand welcomes.’

‘Not a hundred thousand homes. Not a hundred thousand \”stay here’s\”.’

Charlie Regan’s life isn’t going forward, so she’s decided to go back.

After a tough few years floundering around the British film industry, experimenting with amateur pornography and watching her father’s health rapidly decline, she and her best friend Laura journey to her ancestral home of Clipim, an island off the west coast of Ireland. Knowing this could be the last chance to connect with her dad’s history before she loses him, Charlie clings to the idea of her Irish roots offering some kind of solace. But she’ll find out her heritage is about more than cliches and clover-foamed Guinness.

When the girls arrive at Clipim, Charlie begins to question both her difficult relationship with Laura and her father’s childhood stories. Before long, she’s embroiled in a devastating conspiracy that’s been sixty years in the making . . . and it’s up to her to reveal the truth of it.

With a sharp eye and sour tongue, Caroline O’Donoghue delivers a delicious contemporary fable of prodigal return. Blisteringly honest, funny and moving, it grapples with love, friendship and the struggle of second-generation immigrants trying to belong.

Format: Paperback
Pages: 352
Imprint: Virago UK
Publication date: 30/07/2024