Soldier Sailor

Claire Kilroy

From Shelf: Official Indie Fiction Bestsellers (week 13, 2024)

An urgent, memorable, gut-wrenching novel aboutmotherhood, creativity and identity which is sure to getpeople talking.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2024The Times Novel of the YearAnd a Guardian, FT, Economist, Irish Times, Daily Telegraph, New Statesman, Irish Independent and Independent Book of the Year 'One of the finest novels published this year.' Sunday Times'I could not put it down.' ANNE ENRIGHT'It's very moving, also very funny.' PAUL MURRAY'My favourite book I've read this year.' PANDORA SYKES'I lived and breathed beside her narrator.' DAISY JOHNSONIn her wildly acclaimed new novel Claire Kilroy creates an unforgettable heroine, whose fierce love for her young son clashes with the seismic change to her own identity.As her marriage strains and she struggles with questions of love, autonomy, creativity and the passing of time, an old friend makes a welcome return - but can he really offer a lifeline to the woman she used to be?Readers adore Soldier Sailor:***** 'About as perfect a piece of writing as you'll find.'***** 'Unbearably tense and frequently hilarious.'***** 'An entirely different voltage to anything I've read ... she somehow manages to verbalise *exactly* the feelings and thoughts I, certainly, had at points when I was a young mother'***** 'This story touched me on such a visceral level.'***** 'I was held captive by this novel ... an utterly absorbing depiction of motherhood'***** 'I loved this book. Any woman, with or without children, will see themselves mirrored in this narrative'***** 'An excellent, interesting and rather unforgettable creation.'