WINNER OF THE ROONEY PRIZE FOR LITERATURE 2023
WINNER OF THE NERO BOOK AWARD FOR DEBUT FICTION 2023
WATERSTONES IRISH BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023

Sean is back. Back in Belfast and back into old habits. Back on the mad all-nighters, the borrowed tenners and missing rent, the casual jobs that always fall through. Back in these scarred streets, where the promised prosperity of peacetime has never arrived. Back among his brothers, his ma, and all the things they never talk about. Until one night Sean finds himself at a party – dog-tired, surrounded by jeering strangers, his back against the wall – and he makes a big mistake.

'Staggeringly humane, unfaltering, taut and tender... [It] feels like that rarest of things: a genuinely necessary book' Guardian

'Every detail rings true, every character is fleshy and real and heartbreaking... Michael Magee has a remarkable talent' Sunday Times

SHORTLISTED FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES YOUNG WRITER OF THE YEAR AWARD 2024
SHORTLISTED FOR THE IRISH BOOK AWARDS NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR 2023
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2023
SHORTLISTED FOR THE EWART-BIGGS PRIZE 2023
SHORTLISTED FOR THE AUTHORS’ CLUB BEST FIRST NOVEL AWARD 2024
SHORTLISTED FOR THE JOHN MCGAHERN PRIZE 2024
LONGLISTED FOR THE DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE FOR LITERATURE 2024
LONGLISTED FOR THE DIVERSE BOOK AWARDS 2024
ONE OF SARAH JESSICA PARKER’S BEST BOOKS OF 2023
BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023 ACCORDING TO THE TIMES AND IRISH TIMES