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Nothing But Blue Sky

  • Imprint: Penguin Ireland

  • ISBN: 9781844884759

  • Length: 320  Pages

  • Dimensions: 216mm x 23mm x 135mm

  • Weight: 316g

  • RRP: £12.99

Nothing But Blue Sky

'A poignant, gentle and astutely observed novel about marriage and the evolution of love' Sunday Times, NOVELS OF THE YEAR 2020
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Is there such a thing as a perfect marriage?

David thought so. But when his wife Mary Rose dies suddenly he has to think again. In reliving their twenty years together David sees that the ground beneath them had shifted and he simply hadn't noticed. Or had chosen not to.

Figuring out who Mary Rose really was and the secrets that she kept - some of these hidden in plain sight - makes David wonder if he really knew her. Did he even know himself?

Nothing But Blue Sky is a precise and tender story of love in marriage - a gripping examination of what binds couples together and of what keeps them apart.

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'What a beautiful novel ... Elegant, understated, subtly powerful, and rings so perfectly true' Donal Ryan

'Heart-rending ... MacMahon's words ring with the honesty of truth, offering genuine insight into the human condition' Business Post

'Skilfully written with a wonderful lightness of touch' Irish Times

'Gentle and triumphant, MacMahon offers us a novel seeped in beautiful prose and poignant tenderness' Anne Griffin

'A beautifully written and powerful tale' Woman & Home

'A tender dissection of a marriage' Independent

'A piece of perfection ... the best book I've read all year' Irish Examiner

'Sure and subtle, MacMahon holds the reader in her spell. She is a born storyteller' Mike McCormack

  • Imprint: Penguin Ireland

  • ISBN: 9781844884759

  • Length: 320  Pages

  • Dimensions: 216mm x 23mm x 135mm

  • Weight: 316g

  • RRP: £12.99

Reviews

  • A poignant, gentle and astutely observed novel about marriage and the evolution of love

    Sunday Times, Novels of the Year 2020

  • A piece of perfection - a subtle, thought-provoking investigation of a marriage. It rings true. It's the best book I've read all year

    Irish Examiner

  • What a beautiful novel ... elegant, understated, subtly powerful, and rings so perfectly true ... Beautiful, poignant moments, drawn with such quiet power. And that quiet power is alive and at work on every page

    Donal Ryan

  • Insightful and deeply moving, this is a story of one man's grief that somehow manages to hold onto its sense of humour. I loved this book

    Christine Dwyer Hickey

  • Skilfully written with a wonderful lightness of touch ... An acutely observed portrait of a relationship ... filled with astute observations of human behaviour

    Irish Times

  • Kathleen MacMahon's prose could not appear more effortless or beautiful

    Sunday Independent

  • Heart-rending ... a tender and beautiful [love story] ... MacMahon's words ring with the honesty of truth, offering genuine insight into the human condition

    Business Post

  • A tender dissection of marriage

    Independent

  • This elegant, tender novel is an absolute pleasure

    Best

  • A beautifully written and powerful tale

    Woman & Home

More from this Author

About the Author

Kathleen MacMahon

The Home Scar is Kathleen MacMahon's fourth novel. Her first, This is How it Ends, published in 2012, was translated into more than twenty languages, spent five weeks at the top of the bestseller lists in Ireland, and was a Richard and Judy Book Club choice in the UK. Her second novel, The Long, Hot Summer was published to much acclaim in 2015 and was also a bestseller in Ireland. Her third, Nothing But Blue Sky, was nominated for the Women's Prize for Fiction in 2021. Kathleen is a former radio and television journalist with Ireland's national broadcaster, RTÉ, and she lives in Dublin with her family.

Kathleen MacMahon

Read more

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Features

Six Penguin authors on Women’s Prize 2021 longlist

Avni Doshi, Dawn French, Ali Smith, Yaa Gyasi, Claire Fuller and Kathleen MacMahon share their reactions to being nominated for one of literature's most prestigious awards.
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Features

‘There’s a special magic to books with a family tree’: 21 Questions with Kathleen MacMahon

The author of the 2021 Women’s Prize for Fiction-longlisted Nothing But Blue Sky on loving Dickens, troubles with Woolf, and the happy task of putting together IKEA furniture.

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