Discover the emotional bestselling novel about four generations of women and the stories that
bind them from the Booker longlisted author Of Strange Flowers. 'One of the finest novelists
writing today... a haunting exquisite masterpiece.' RACHEL JOYCE 'Endlessly surprising and
incredibly moving' DAVID NICHOLLS 'Beautiful compassionate ... Donal Ryan at his inimitable
best.' MAGGIE O'FARRELL ___________ The Aylward women are mad about each other but you
wouldn't always think it. You'd have to know them - in spite of what neighbours might say about
raised voices and dramatic scenes - to know that that their house is a place of peace filled
with love a refuge from the sadness and cruelty of the world. The head of the family Nana is
a woman who has buried two sons and whose life has been the family farm. Her daughter-in-law
Eileen is estranged from her own parents having 'shamed' them and given birth to Saoirse. And
then there's Saoirse herself eavesdropping on lives she cannot comprehend. It is only when
they must battle for the inheritance of Dirt Island - a narrow strip of land adjacent to
Eileen's childhood home - that they truly understand the roots that bind their lives together.
_________ 'The prose drips like honey off a spoon' SUNDAY TIMES 'Beautifully poised sad
poetic and human....I loved every single line.' IAN RANKIN 'A generous mosaic of a novel about
the staying power of love and pride and history and family' COLUM McCANN 'His paragraphs are
unnoticeably beautiful his heart always on show' ANNE ENRIGHT 'A life-enhancing talent'
SEBASTIAN BARRY 'I would struggle to think of any other Irish author working today who writes
with as much compassion as Donal Ryan' LOUISE O'NEILL
