Trespasses

A major literary acquisition for Bloomsbury that will appeal to readers of Ali Smith, Julian Barnes and Anne Enright, Trespasses was acquired along with Kennedy's debut short story collection in a hotly contested nine-way auctionThe End of the World is a Cul de Sac was published in 2021 to huge critical acclaim, with the Sunday Times calling Kennedy's voice 'electric' and the Guardian drawing comparisons to Annie Proulx and Wendy IrskineLouise Kennedy was shortlisted for the Sunday Times Audible Short Story Prize in both 2019 and 2020. The award is known for discovering unknown talents: Sally Rooney got her first break when shortlisted in 2017Louise Kennedy grew up in Holywood, Co. Down. Her short stories have appeared in journals including The Stinging Fly, The Tangerine, Banshee, Wasifiri and Ambit and she has written for the Guardian, Irish Times, BBC Radio 4 and RTE Radio 1. Her work has won prizes and she was shortlisted for the Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award in both 2019 and 2020. Before starting her writing career, she spent nearly thirty years working as a chef. She lives in Sligo with her husband and two children.* THE NO. 1 BESTSELLER (The Times) * SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2023 * * WINNER OF THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS BOOK OF THE YEAR: DEBUT FICTION * * WINNER OF THE AN POST IRISH BOOK AWARDS NOVEL OF THE YEAR 2022 * * SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2022 * * AN OBSERVER BEST DEBUT NOVELIST OF 2022 * * A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIME * _______________ 'Like Sally Rooney mixed with a political thriller' RUSSELL KANE 'Intense, unflinchingly honest, it broke my heart a million times' MARIAN KEYES 'Absolutely loved it' MAX PORTER 'A beautiful, devastating novel' NICK HORNBY One by one, she undid each event, each decision, each choice. If Davy had remembered to put on a coat. If Seamie McGeown had not found himself alone on a dark street. If Michael Agnew had not walked through the door of the pub on a quiet night in February in his white shirt. There is nothing special about the day Cushla meets Michael, a married man from Belfast, in the pub owned by her family. But here, love is never far from violence, and this encounter will change both of their lives forever. As people get up each morning and go to work, school, church or the pub, the daily news rolls in of another car bomb exploded, another man beaten, killed or left for dead. In the class Cushla teaches, the vocabulary of seven-year-old children now includes phrases like 'petrol bomb' and 'rubber bullets'. And as she is forced to tread lines she never thought she would cross, tensions in the town are escalating, threatening to destroy all she is working to hold together. Tender and shocking, Trespasses is an unforgettable debut of people trying to live ordinary lives in extraordinary times. ______________ A 2022 BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR: THE TIMES * SUNDAY TIMES * GUARDIAN * TELEGRAPH * NEW STATESMAN * DAILY MAIL * IRISH TIMES * IRISH INDEPENDENT * BELFAST TELEGRAPHFrom the acclaimed writer of The End of the World is a Cul de Sac comes an astonishing debut novel about the lives ordinary people, where the political invades the personal and love is never far away from violenceLouise Kennedy's Trespasses touches tenderly and hits hard - a compulsively readable love story which is also a lament for a society agonizingly divided against itself. Every word rings trueA layered, involving story, told with artfully quiet symbolism and remarkable narrative controlTrespasses is a beautiful, devastating novel. It feels real and true, and it loves its characters, utterly authentic people trying to live ordinary lives in desperate times. This book will last[Louise Kennedy's] debut novel is incredible. Intense, unflinchingly honest, it broke my heart a million times, I was consumed by itThe Northern Irish writer made quite an impact this year with her debut collection of stories, The End of the World Is a Cul de Sac. Her first novel tells the story of a young woman drawn into a relationship with an older married manThis writer does not stintTo carve such gilded stories as these would be an accomplishment for an old master, let alone for a relative newbie. Yet Kennedy's spritz of humous, as black as the holes these women are in, elevates her stories from downbeat to transcendent