Exquisitely written and profoundly moving—the new literary novel from an award-winning Irish author

Exquisitely written and profoundly moving-the new literary novel from an award-winning Irish author. 'An exceptional, compulsive novel of love, loss and courage. SINEAD GLEESON 'Mary Costello is a writer of rare and exquisite sensitivity' PAUL LYNCH 'One of our foremost women writers' GUARDIAN This is Anna's story. In Dublin in 1985, nineteen-year-old Anna Hughes is in thrall to Peter Gallagher, an older, worldly man. Anna is introverted and naive, and Peter's experience, wide circle of friends and thirst for adventure captivate her. Her obsessive longing for him leads to marriage and, eventually, a crushing betrayal. When Anna meets a kind-hearted Algerian man, she finds herself falling in love with him. Life with Karim offers stability and renewed hope and, slowly, Anna begins to uncover deeper layers of herself. Unfolding over twenty-five years, this is a profound novel about the loss of innocence, the price of love, and the cost of seeking salvation in others. With her exquisite insight, Mary Costello tells a piercing story about longing, intimacy and the unpredictable road to discovery of the self. 'Brings to mind the elegance of Colm T ibin and the insight of Alice Munro.' MAGGIE O'FARRELL 'an intensely moving and exquisitely-written novel' LUCY CALDWELL 'like a beautiful piece of music... I am filled with admiration for Mary Costello.' CLAIRE MESSUD 'Grounded, fully charged and realistic.' SATURDAY PAPER 'A subtle, unsettling and deeply humane novel that lingers long after the final page.' SUNDAY INDEPENDENT

Details

ISBN13: 9781923058286
Format: Paperback / softback
Number of Pages: 192
Edition:
Publication Date: 24 Mar 2026
Publisher: Text Publishing
Publication City, Country: Melbourne, Australia
Dimensions (cm): 23.3(H)x15.4(L)x1.7(W)284
Weight (gm): 284

Author Biography

Mary Costello's short story collection, The China Factory, was nominated for the Guardian First Book Award and shortlisted for an Irish Book Award. Her first novel, Academy Street, won the Irish Novel of the Year Award and was named overall Irish Book of the Year in 2014. The River Capture, her second novel, was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards, the Kerry Group Awards and the Dalkey Book Awards. Mary Costello lives in Galway.

Reviews

‘A book that grabs the reader from page one.’ * Australian *
‘Costello is a writer of rare and exquisite sensitivity – intimate, piercing, death-haunted – with sentences that can turn on a pin into vastness.’ * Paul Lynch *

‘Brings to mind the elegance of Colm Tóibín and the insight of Alice Munro.’

* Maggie O’Farrell *
‘Mary Costello has a genius for taking ordinary, unheralded lives and discovering within them the disquiet, the disillusionment, concealed just below the surface.’ * Australian *
'Costello's writing has the kind of urgency that the great problems demand.' * Anne Enright *
‘I loved this quiet story, which deftly illumines the perils of absolutism in love and faith.’ * Molly Murn, author of Heart of the Grass Tree *
‘Grounded, fully charged and realistic…’ * Saturday Paper *
'There is no greater chronicler of the inner life at this moment. As artificial intelligence and big tech force an increasingly diminished definition upon us of what it means to be human, this novel reminds us that we are so much more.’ * Guardian *