A Family Past Presses Fiercely On The Present
Elaine Feeney returns with a novel about family, inheritance and the ways the past continues to shape the living. Rich in atmosphere and emotional intelligence, it is literary fiction for readers who value nuance, voice and the ache of complicated kinship.
An Post Irish Book Awards Author of the Year 2025
Let Me Go Mad In My Own Way
Collect 47 Reward Points
- Currently Out Of Stock
A Family Past Presses Fiercely On The Present
Elaine Feeney returns with a novel about family, inheritance and the ways the past continues to shape the living. Rich in atmosphere and emotional intelligence, it is literary fiction for readers who value nuance, voice and the ache of complicated kinship.
- Book Synopsis
-
Ideal for readers who:
- Seek literary fiction rooted in family damage, memory and place.
- Are interested in mothers, daughters and the emotional weather of Irish life.
- Want a household’s troubled history explored with lyric intensity.
- Prefer novels that are searching, intimate and quietly devastating.
AN INSTANT IRISH TIMES TOP 5 BESTSELLER
ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED NOVELS OF 2025 AS SELECTED BY THE OBSERVER, THE IRISH TIMES, JOURNAL.IE, RTE GUIDE AND SUNDAY TIMES IRELAND
The deeply moving story of the O'Connor family, its troubled past in the West of Ireland, and a love story of second chances from the Booker-longlisted author of How to Build a Boat
'A superb, multi-generational story told in stunning, poetic prose. Elaine Feeney is one of Irish literature's most gifted and persuasive storytellers.' SINÉAD GLEESON
'I believe [this] is the best book of 2025' Oliver Callan, RTE RADIO
'Hugely powerful' DAILY MAIL
'Superb' IRISH TIMES
'An uncanny understanding of the workings of the human heart. I loved this book' LOUISE KENNEDY
'Full of humanity, a story for our times' MARY COSTELLO
Claire O'Connor's life has been on hold since she broke up with Tom Morton and moved from London back home to the rugged West of Ireland to care for her dying father. But glimpses of her old life are sure to follow when Tom unexpectedly moves nearby.
As Claire is thrown into a love she thought she'd left behind, she questions if Tom has come for her or for himself. Living in her childhood home brings its own challenges. While Claire tries to maintain a normal life - getting lost online, going to work and minding her own business - Tom's return stirs up haunting memories trapped within the walls of the old family house.
Let Me Go Mad in My Own Way is a story of love and resilience, rich with history and drama, and the legacies of violence and redemption. As the secrets of the past are revealed, Claire must confront whether she can escape her history to make a future for herself.
'Sizzling, electric... charged with humour and anger... I loved it' JENNY MUSTARD
'The pull of home feels as irresistible as it is destabilising, forcing a confrontation with unspeakable truths' OBSERVER
'Clear-eyed and deep-hearted... packs an intellectual and emotional punch' CLAIRE-LOUISE BENNETT
'This book touched my soul' KATRIONA O'SULLIVAN
'Feeney will break your heart with her characters but she will also lovingly put it back together again' EDEL COFFEY
- About The Author
- Elaine Feeney is an acclaimed novelist and poet from the West of Ireland. Her debut novel, As You Were, was shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize and the Irish Novel of the Year Award, and won the Kate O'Brien Award, the McKitterick Prize and the Dalkey Festival Emerging Writer Award. How to Build a Boat was also shortlisted for Irish Novel of the Year, longlisted for the Booker Prize, and was a New Yorker Best Book of the Year. With her third novel, Let Me Go Mad in My Own Way, Feeney was shortlisted again for Irish Novel of the Year and won the Library Association of Ireland Author of the Year. Feeney has published the poetry collections Where's Katie?, The Radio Was Gospel, Rise and All the Good Things You Deserve, and lectures at the University of Galway.
- Product Details
-
- ISBN
- 9781787303485
- Format
- Paperback
- Publisher
- Harvill Secker, (29 May 2025)
- Number of Pages
- 352
- Weight
- 322 grams
- Language
- English
- Dimensions
- 215 x 136 x 24 mm
- Categories: