The Coast Road

Anne's Review 

This is certainly one of the most impressive books I have read this year.

It’s set in Ireland in 1994, when divorce has still not been recognised. Amazing under modern circumstances, but that factor definitely has a bearing on this thought-provoking book. The novel itself is tender and brutal by turns, depending on the protagonist being explored.

One of the major characters in the novel, Colette Crowley, had the courage to leave her husband, an act all the more remarkable given the morally rigid attitudes of the time.  She returns to her home village to reunite with her sons, even though her husband forbids her to do so and threatens to kill her. Left with no money, Colette tries to start a writers’ workshop to earn her keep, but turns to alcohol to cope. It seems that everyone, including the brutal man from whom she rents her cottage, takes the opportunity to denigrate her. Colette then enlists the help of Issy, a housewife and mother of two, and the women forge a friendship that will send them one on a path of self-discovery and the other towards tragedy.

While such details suggest a rather bleak read, the novel is unputdownable. While story is designed to make us angry, the grimness is leavened by the beautiful quality of the writing.

Publisher's Review 

'A perfect book club read ... Assured and powerful' - SUNDAY TIMES

'Moves between rage, forgiveness and hope ... A stonkingly good novel' - SARAH WINMAN

'A beautiful, accomplished debut' - LOUISE KENNEDY

It's 1994 in County Donegal, Ireland, and everyone is talking about Colette Crowley the writer, the bohemian, the woman who left her husband and sons to pursue a relationship with a married man in Dublin. But now Colette is back, and nobody knows why.

Returning to the community to try and reclaim her old life, Colette quickly learns that they are unwilling to give it back to her. The man to whom she is still married is denying her access to her children, and while the legalisation of divorce might be just around the corner, Colette finds herself caught between her old life and the freedom for which she risked everything. Desperate to see her children, she enlists the help of Izzy, a housewife and mother of two, and the women forge a friendship that will send them on a spiralling journey one toward a path of self-discovery, and the other toward tragedy.

Brilliantly observed from a sharp new literary talent, The Coast Road is a novel about a closed community and the consequences of daring to move against the tide.