Stations
A Novel
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- Pre-Order
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- Expected Nov 3, 2026
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
"A marvel."–People
“Blisteringly good… Her questions will burn themselves into your heart.” –The Guardian
“I loved this book so much. Highly recommend.” –Joumana Khatib, New York Times
“A propulsive, powerful novel about first love and regret.” –Min Jin Lee, author of Pachinko
“I gulped this down - convinced, fascinated, and moved by every page.” –Emma Donoghue, author of Room
“Brilliant and heartbreaking … one of the finest novels about unrequited love I’ve ever read.” –Elin Hilderbrand, author of The Five Star Weekend
A woman is haunted by the unsettled boy who befriended her as an outcast teenager, long after he drifts out of reach
In 1980s Ireland, Róisín and Red bond as only two precocious and disaffected teenagers can. Soon he is privy to the secret source of her shame and anger: the father who’s abandoned her and her mother to their damp house and never-ending strife. But what does Róisín know about why Red avoids going home to his own posh parents and house—the house he soon flees forever?
When a Christmas visit to her father reveals the devastating truth of his new life in London, Róisín tracks down Red and moves into his Pimlico squat. But the path he is now on is a disturbing one, and gradually they drift apart. And yet the great, never-consummated passion of her youth remains a visitation upon the years that follow. Will Róisín ever stop longing for Red? Will she ever learn to let someone else love her—or learn to love herself?
Stations is a gorgeous, wrenching novel about the terrible—and sometimes redemptive—power with which the past hovers over the present.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Two outsiders share a powerful yet elusive connection in Louise Kennedy’s gut-wrenching story of friendship and trauma. At 15, Róisín and Red are miserable in their small Irish hometown. It’s 1982, and Róisín is only vaguely aware of the dysfunction in her family; whatever is happening in Red’s wealthier household, he refuses to speak about it. When Red gets into trouble (and perhaps reaches a breaking point at home), he runs away to London, where Róisín eventually follows. Kennedy’s writing is deeply evocative, from the grimy feel of an ’80s London squat to Róisín’s smitten feelings for Red, who acknowledges their bond while remaining at an impenetrable emotional distance. Decades later, Róisín’s quest to track down Red generates surprising suspense, even though Kennedy’s narrative is more character focused than plot driven. And the quiet moments between lovers, friends, and old rivals vibrate with immediacy. Stations is a heartbreaking look at how long it can take us to understand ourselves and each other.
