A mother faces a terrible choice in this explosive literary sensation about a dystopian Ireland

WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE 2023

SHORTLISTED FOR THE AN POST IRISH BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023

SHORTLISTED FOR THE STREGA EUROPEAN PRIZE

A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

A NEW YORK TIMES EDITOR'S CHOICE

AN AMAZON TOP 10 BOOK OF DECEMBER 2023

A Book of the Year for 2023 according to the Guardian, FT, Irish Independent, Irish Examiner, Sunday Independent, Economist, Big Issue, Daily Telegraph, Irish Times and Waterstones

'A CRUCIAL BOOK FOR OUR CURRENT TIMES... BRILLIANTLY HAUNTING.' OBSERVER

The explosive literary sensation: a mother faces a terrible choice as Ireland slides into totalitarianism

On a dark, wet evening in Dublin, scientist and mother-of-four Eilish Stack answers her front door to find the GNSB on her step. Two officers from Ireland’s newly formed secret police are here to interrogate her husband, Larry, a trade unionist.

Ireland is falling apart. The country is in the grip of a government turning towards tyranny and when her husband disappears, Eilish finds herself caught within the nightmare logic of a society that is quickly unravelling. Soon, she must decide just how far she is willing to go to keep her family safe.

Exhilarating, terrifying and propulsive, Paul Lynch's Booker Prize-winning novel is a devastating vision of a country falling apart and a moving portrait of the resilience of the human spirit when faced with the darkest of times.

'A compassionate, propulsive and timely novel that forces the reader to imagine — what if this was me?' FT