Carmel had been alone all her life. She had been alone since she was twelve years old. The baby knew all this. They looked at each other; one life into another life, and the baby knew exactly how alone her mother had been.
Nell - funny, brave and so much loved - is a young woman with adventure on her mind. As she sets out into the world, she finds her family history hard to escape. For her mother, Carmel, Nell's leaving home opens a space in her heart, where the turmoil of a lifetime begins to churn. And across the generations falls the long shadow of Carmel's famous father, an Irish poet of beautiful words and brutal actions.
This is a meditation on love: spiritual, romantic, darkly sexual or genetic. A generational saga that traces the inheritance not just of trauma but also of wonder, it is a testament to the glorious resilience of women in the face of promises false and true. Above all, it is an exploration of the love between mother and daughter - sometimes fierce, often painful, but always transcendent.



![Lynch, Paul IRISH FICTION Paul Lynch: Prophet Song [2023] paperback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/lynch-paul-paul-lynch-prophet-song-2023-paperback-57686922002771_{width}x.jpg?v=1732016939)
![Keegan, Claire IRISH FICTION Claire Keegan: Small Things Like These: Shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2022 [2022] paperback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/keegan-claire-claire-keegan-small-things-like-these-shortlisted-for-the-booker-prize-2022-2022-paperback-59373419102547_{width}x.jpg?v=1758902529)
![Murray, Paul IRISH FICTION Paul Murray: The Bee Sting [2023] paperback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/murray-paul-paul-murray-the-bee-sting-2023-paperback-57229585645907_{width}x.jpg?v=1726814651)
![Norton, Graham FICTION HARDBACK Graham Norton: Frankie [2024] paperback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/norton-graham-graham-norton-frankie-2024-paperback-60131430170963_{width}x.jpg?v=1760095851)
![Rooney, Sally IRISH FICTION New Intermezzo [2024] paperback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/rooney-sally-intermezzo-2024-paperback-9780571365470-57985430978899_{width}x.jpg?v=1736598825)