As You Were
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- 8,99 €
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- 8,99 €
Publisher Description
Discover this unforgettable, darkly funny novel about the power of friendship and the heartbreak of family life - shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize 2021.
'AMAZING' Marian Keyes
'BEAUTIFUL' Douglas Stuart
'FABULOUS' Kevin Barry
'THRILLING' Nicole Flattery
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Sinéad Hynes is a tough, driven, funny young property developer with a terrifying secret.
No-one knows it: not her fellow patients in a failing hospital, and certainly not her family. She has confided only in Google and a shiny magpie.
But she can't go on like this, tirelessly trying to outstrip her past and in mortal fear of her future. Somehow, Sinéad needs to seize the moment, and maybe then she can learn to be free...
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An Evening Standard, Observer and Daily Telegraph Book of the Year
An Observer Best Debut 2020
Winner of the Dalkey Book Festival Emerging Writer Award
Winner of the McKitterick Prize 2020
Winner of the Kate O'Brien Award 2021
Shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards Novel of the Year 2020
'Extraordinary... This is writing that often reaches into your heart' Evening Standard
'Exhilarating...gloriously full of life' Irish Independent
'Feeney's voice is at once fresh and sharp, with an eye for comedy' Observer
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Feeney's brilliant debut follows an Irish woman's struggle to accept a terminal cancer diagnosis. Sinéad Hynes, 39, a successful property developer, is married with two young boys. When first diagnosed with cancer, she refuses to tell anyone, including her husband, Alex. But when she lands in a poorly funded hospital, she is forced to contend with her new reality. Feeney skillfully tells the stories of other patients, including Margaret Rose, recovering from a stroke, and Jane, suffering from dementia. In the closed space of the ward, these three women share their secrets. Margaret Rose has a philandering husband and pregnant teenage daughter. Jane, a retired teacher, has a husband and nine children but no visitors. She tells Margaret Rose and Sinéad about her long-ago love for another woman, Ann, and about her and Ann's tragic place in Ireland's history of abuse of women. As Sinéad's illness progresses, she comes to terms with her past, her illness, and her deep love for her family, which swells in poignant moments such as when Alex helps to "smuggle" her out of the hospital. Never sentimental, and full of well-crafted dialogue and rich descriptions, the story is driven forward by Sinéad's strong narration. This powerful work perfectly balances tragedy and hope.
