Confessions

<''A remarkable debut'' Miranda Cowley Heller, bestselling author of THE PAPER PALACE

''A cool, bold image of female pain and liberation''

It is late September in 2001 and the walls of New York are papered over with photos of the missing. Cora Brady''s father is there, the poster she made taped to columns and bridges. Her mother died long ago and now, orphaned on the cusp of adulthood, Cora is adrift and alone.

Soon, a letter will arrive with the offer of a new life: far out on the ragged edge of Ireland, in the town where her parents were young, an estranged aunt can provide a home and fulfil a long-forgotten promise. There the story of Cora''s family is hidden, and in her presence will begin to unspool...

An essential, immersive debut from an astonishing new voice,
''An irresistible read'' Yael van der Wouden, Booker-shortlisted author of THE SAFEKEEP

''Propulsive and utterly captivating ... Airey has shades of the American novelists Donna Tartt and Jeffrey Eugenides in her style''
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About the author

Catherine Airey grew up in England in a family of mixed Irish and English descent, and now lives in County Cork. Confessions is her first novel.

Product details

• Authors: Catherine Airey
• Publisher: Penguin Books Uk
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback
• Release: 22.01.2026
• EAN: 9781405961530
• ISBN: 978-1-4059-6153-0
• No. of pages: 384
• Dimensions: 129 mm x 198 mm x 35 mm
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature; New York City, Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945), Fiction: special features, FICTION / Family Life / General, FICTION / Literary, Donegal, FICTION / Psychological, Narrative theme: Interior life, Family life fiction, Narrative theme: Death, grief, loss, Narrative theme: Sense of place, c 2000 to c 2009, c 1970 to c 1979, c 2010 to c 2019, Modern and contemporary fiction: general and literary