An Observer, Grazia, Irish Times and Irish Independent Highlight for 2021
Being Tommy's mother is too much for Sonya.
Too much love, too much fear, too much longing for the cool wine she gulps from the bottle each night. Because Sonya is burning the fish fingers, and driving too fast, and swimming too far from the shore, and Tommy's life is in her hands.
Once there was the thrill of a London stage, a glowing acting career, fast cars, handsome men. But now there are blackouts and bare cupboards, and her estranged father showing up uninvited. There is Mrs O'Malley spying from across the road. There is the risk of losing Tommy – forever.
About the Author
Lisa Harding is a writer, actress, playwright and the author of one previous novel, Harvesting. She lives in Dublin.
Industry Reviews
“Absolutely dazzling . . . While the subject matter is dear to my heart, I'd have loved it even if I knew nothing about addiction. It's instantly engrossing. Sonya's emotional interiority is fascinating and compelling. I really cared about her and Tommy – they felt very real to me”
Marian Keyes
“A novel of extraordinary intimacy and vividness, a uniquely disquieting account of a mind sinking into the depths and rising again, full of such powerful love and fear”
Megan Hunter, author of The End We Start From
“On every page there are little shimmering bombs. Like Room, where parenthood is at once your jail and your salvation, it is almost claustrophobic – but in the most glorious way”
Lisa Taddeo, author of Three Women
“A tense, unflinching, immersive mapping of a pitted track of addiction and recovery . . . I lived every scene as I read, and I know that these characters will be with me for a long time”
Donal Ryan
