'A remarkable first novel' Sunday Times
'She takes a step closer to the mineshaft and it's as if she steps back in time. Her grandfather is standing where she is standing now, a young man not much older than she is, who knows nothing about the future, nothing about her.'
Generation is a short novel that contains a huge amount, taking place over eighty years, three continents and three generations.
At its heart is Aine, a recently divorced woman in her thirties who wants some kind of escape from her life in Ireland: from her ex-husband and his pregnant girlfriend, her mundane job and unexciting love life. So she goes to stay for a few weeks on an organic farm near Chicago, with her six-year-old daughter Daisy. The trip doesn't turn out as she imagined it would, and that summer will have unforeseeable consequences for everyone involved.
Ambitious and gripping, Generation moves effortlessly from the smallest of details to the largest of canvases, as the repercussions of the decisions taken by parents play out in the lives of their children for years to come.
Industry Reviews
Particularly impressive is the skilful way McGrath delineates her characters . . . A glass of wine is described as "pouring redemption", and such imagery reflects McGrath's love throughout for the resonances of language . . . Mark Richards, editorial director with JM Originals, McGrath's publisher, has said the imprint is "a space where risks can be taken and hunches can be backed, because literary careers make sense over the long-term". Such support for innovation and ambition should be commended - as should McGrath's determination to realise her literary vision
