Book cover of Close to Home

Book description

WINNER OF THE ROONEY PRIZE FOR LITERATURE 2023
WINNER OF THE NERO BOOK AWARD FOR DEBUT FICTION 2023
WINNER OF THE JOHN MCGAHERN PRIZE 2024
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…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Close to Home as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Michael Magee’s novel is a cracking exploration of life in contemporary Belfast. The examination of a young man’s quest to find some direction and economic stability whilst working in precarious employment had me hooked from the outset. His attempts to deal with the fall-out from a casual act of violence and his romantic/friendship dilemmas seemed to sum up well the struggles many faced in their early 20s, between university and their ‘future’ (alas, a distant memory for me now). 

So far, so rite of passage-y. But what I think makes the book an informative read on Northern Ireland and its…

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The High House by James Stoddard,

The Victorian mansion, Evenmere, is the mechanism that runs the universe.

The lamps must be lit, or the stars die. The clocks must be wound, or Time ceases. The Balance between Order and Chaos must be preserved, or Existence crumbles.

Appointed the Steward of Evenmere, Carter Anderson must learn the…

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