Tell Me What I Am
'Beautiful, haunting.' LOUISE KENNEDY
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- £8.99
Publisher Description
WINNER OF THE CWA GOLD DAGGER
SHORTLISTED FOR THE RSL ENCORE AWARD
From the internationally bestselling author of A Crooked Tree
'Beautiful, haunting.' LOUISE KENNEDY
'Vividly real . . . There's love here as well as pain.' MARIAN KEYES
'Deeply moving.' OBSERVER
'A sure-footed and emotionally complex novel . . . absorbing.' IRISH TIMES
'I loved it.' LIZ NUGENT
Please don't hang up. I don't know if you remember. You used to live with me. You and your mother.
Ruby lives with her father in an old farmhouse at the end of a dirt road. He teaches her to hunt, to forage for mushrooms, to gut a fish. She learns to tiptoe around his temper - and never to ask about her absent mother.
Ruby has no idea that, hundreds of miles away, a woman she barely remembers is desperate to answer those same questions.
Captivating, tender and deeply moving, Tell Me What I Am is an unforgettable portrait of the indelible bonds of family - and how far we will go for the ones we love.
'Haunting and deeply moving.' OBSERVER
'Propulsive and richly atmospheric.' IRISH INDEPENDENT
'An engrossing, deftly-told story with an aching secret at its heart, this is a profoundly moving novel of family and women standing strong together.' LISA BALLANTYNE
'Sharp, poignant, thrilling and moving.' CHRIS WHITAKER
'Compelling . . . Mannion writes with a lyrical economy that stands out, and always shows a deep empathy for her well-drawn characters.' IRISH EXAMINER
'A wrenching portrait of the umbilical bond between mother and child and, more powerfully still, an icily persuasive account of the subtle dark arts of male coercion and abuse.' DAILY MAIL
WHAT READERS ARE SAYING:
'A brilliantly told story, engrossing, with love, pain, heartbreak and darkness. The characterisation was excellent and the plot was moving and gently woven.' 5* reader review
'I raced through... Well-written, incredibly tense and chilling in parts.' 5* reader review
'A book to savour and appreciate as well as enjoy.' 5* reader review
'This is such a powerful story of love and family. It kept me awake desperate to find out what had happened to affect them all so badly.' 5* reader review
'This is a beautifully written novel with powerfully drawn characters.' 5* reader review
'Had me hooked... Loved it.' 5* reader review
'Wow what a book!' 5* reader review
**Una Mannion's first novel, A Crooked Tree, is available now**
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Mannion (A Crooked Tree) explores the long shadow of domestic violence in this outstanding mystery. In 2004, Nessa Garvey's sister, Deena, disappears after leaving their shared Philadelphia apartment for work. Nessa feels certain Deena's abusive ex, Lucas Chevalier, is responsible—particularly when he uses Deena's absence to gain custody of the couple's four-year-old daughter, Ruby—but Lucas's mother alibis him. He then convinces a judge to deny Nessa visitation rights to see Ruby and decamps with the girl to Vermont. Nessa refuses to move on, however, obsessing over her sister and niece's fates; meanwhile, as Ruby grows up exploring Lake Champlain's islands, she learns to hunt, farm, and manage her father's temper. She knows not to ask about her "messed up" mother, whom Lucas says abandoned them when Ruby was two, but when someone mails her a picture contradicting that timeline, she starts questioning her father's motives. Mannion expertly intertwines Nessa and Ruby's stories via visceral, close-third-person narration that alternates perspectives, and weaves through time to build tension and dole out reveals. Her subtly shaded characters add nuance and poignancy. This artful slow burn should earn Mannion new fans.
