Kathleen MacMahon

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Nothing But Blue Sky

The Home Scar

Penguin Shop: 3 Clothbound Classics for £33

A powerful story about legacy and loss and the possibility of reconciliation

Her beautifully simple style belies psychological complexity . . . and her tone is wryly accepting

Quiet and bleakly beautiful . . . like the siblings and Ireland, it will leave a permanent mark on those who venture into its depths

Picks at the wounds only a mother can inflict . . . ambitious . . . intricate

An exceptional novel about a brother and sister returning to the west of Ireland and to a summer of their past.

MacMahon writes with such beautiful simplicity, conjuring real and complex people straight off the page . . . subtle and authentic

Thoughtful, understated . . . it has a quiet power

A gorgeous story of sibling love. It reads like a psychological adventure story into memory

A spell-binding story of inherited grief and the unbreakable bond between siblings as they unpick memories of their shared past . . . [MacMahon's] characters feel authentic and relatable for all their flaws

Such a treat . . . another stunner from Kathleen MacMahon

With her usual effortless writing style and ability to make characters pop off the page, [The Home Scar] is a moving read

An intriguing, meticulous and generation-spanning story of love, loss and healing

Kathleen MacMahon's subject is memory itself: how we remember - and the impact upon our future lives when our memories deceive us. Compassionate and poignant, The Home Scar is a work of considerable moral power

A very grown-up novel about life and love, of course, and above all, the repercussions of a disrupted childhood . . . a real tour de force

The Home Scar once again displays Kathleen MacMahon's gimlet-eyed understanding of grown-up frailty

[MacMahon's] exploration of connection, to each other and the ones we've lost, is . . . sensitively done and wrapped in the rich storytelling that has made her a notable name in Irish literature

A love story to the west of Ireland as much as it is a family mystery, this beautifully written novel will entrance anyone who has memories of childhood holidays spent in the area.

MacMahon's fourth novel ... is another eloquently written and elegantly shaped novel that lays bare those scars that many of us carry and cover.

An exceptional novel by one of Ireland's foremost literary talents. A book not to be missed

One of Ireland's finest twenty-first century writers

From the Women’s Prize-longlisted author of Nothing But Blue Sky

On opposite sides of the world, half-siblings Cassie and Christo have built their lives around work, intent on ignoring their painful past. 
 
When a dramatic storm in Galway hits the headlines, they're drawn back there to revisit a glorious childhood summer, the last before their mother died. But their journey uncovers memories of a far less happy summer - one that had tragic consequences. 
 
Confronted with the havoc their mother left in her wake, Cassie and Christo are forced to face their past and - ready or not - to deal with the messy tangle of parental love and neglect that shaped them. 
 
The Home Scar is a luminous and precise story about the inheritance of loss and the possibility of finally making peace with it.

&quot;MacMahon writes with such beautiful simplicity, conjuring real and complex people straight off the page ... subtle and authentic&quot; - Claire Fuller 
 
On opposite sides of the world, half-siblings Cassie and Christo have built their lives around work, intent on ignoring their painful past. 
 
When a dramatic storm in Galway hits the headlines, they're drawn back there to revisit a glorious childhood summer, the last before their mother died. But their journey uncovers memories of a far less happy summer - one that had tragic consequences. 
 
Confronted with the havoc their mother left in her wake, Cassie and Christo are forced to face their past and - ready or not - to deal with the messy tangle of parental love and neglect that shaped them. 
 
The Home Scar is a luminous and precise story about the inheritance of loss and the possibility of finally making peace with it. 
_________ 
 
&quot;Her beautifully simple style belies psychological complexity ... and her tone is wryly accepting&quot; - Big Issue 
 
&quot;Quiet and bleakly beautiful ... like the siblings and Ireland, it will leave a permanent mark on those who venture into its depths&quot; - Buzz 
 
&quot;Picks at the wounds only a mother can inflict ... ambitious ... intricate&quot; - Sunday Independent 
 
&quot;An exceptional novel about a brother and sister returning to the west of Ireland and to a summer of their past.&quot; - Anne Griffin, Sunday Independent 
 
&quot;A powerful story about legacy and loss and the possibility of reconciliation&quot; - Irish Times

The Home Scar is Kathleen MacMahon's fourth novel. Her debut, This is How it Ends, spent five weeks at the top of the Irish bestseller chart, and was a Richard and Judy Book Club choice. It was followed by The Long, Hot Summer, also an Irish bestseller, and Nothing But Blue Sky, longlisted for the 2021 Women's Prize for Fiction. Kathleen is a former broadcast journalist. She lives in Dublin with her family.

The Home Scar

From the Women’s Prize-longlisted author of Nothing But Blue Sky

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About Kathleen MacMahon

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