Evenings and Weekends

(Paperback)

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'I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN' SHON FAYE

'A MASTERPIECE. THIS SEARING TALE OF LOVE, SEX AND CLASS WILL RESONATE FOR GENERATIONS TO COME' OWEN JONES

'I WAS DEEPLY MOVED BY ITS BEAUTY AND HUMANITY' COCO MELLORS

'Electric and intimate' Guardian

'Impossibly, ineffably beautiful Russell T Davies

'Intoxicating' Irish Times

This city stops for no-one. Not the half-naked boozers, stoners, and cruisers, the hen parties glugging from bejewelled bottles, the drag queens puffing on hurried fags. Its June 2019 in London and everyone has converged on the parks, beer gardens and street corners to revel in the collective joys of being alive.

Everyone but Maggie. Shes 30, pregnant and broke. Faced with moving back to the town she fought to escape, shes wondering if having a baby with boyfriend Ed will be the last spontaneous act of her life. Ed, meanwhile, is trying to run from his past with Maggies best friend Phil and harbouring secret dreams of his own.

Phil hates his office job and is living for the weekend, while falling for his housemate, Keith. But theres a problem: Keith has a boyfriend and there might not be room for three people in the relationship. Then theres Rosaleen, Phils mother, whos tired of feeling like a side character in her own life. Shes just been diagnosed with cancer and is travelling to London to tell Phil, if she can ever get hold of him.

As Saturday night approaches, all their lives are set to change forever. Its the hottest summer on record and the weekend is about to begin

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR ACCORDING TO DAZED, METRO, GQ, NOVARA MEDIA

What readers are saying

'Ive had a week long book hangover. Read it!'

'A book I will carry with me in my heart'

'The best book I've read in recent years'

'My life got just a bit richer from having read this book'

'I absolutely loved it, every word'

Reviews

'A gorgeous, kaleidoscopic vision of London written in shimmering prose I felt compelled to underline. I was deeply moved by its beauty and humanity. Coco Mellors, author of Cleopatra and Frankenstein

'A masterpiece. This searing tale of love, sex and class will resonate for generations to come' Owen Jones

'Electric and intimate. Bottles the exhilaration of youthful desire and possibility, as well as the accompanying instability' Guardian

Ive never seen London so vividly rendered: grubby, sexy, suffocating. I couldnt put it down. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant Shon Faye

'Full of rich observations and emotional detail. A complex love letter to the city.' Vogue

A beautiful, wise book. Impossibly, ineffably beautiful. Russell T Davies

'Compelling, brilliant, hypnotic. An impressive debut, pulsating with energy, humour and erotic charge.' Irish Times

I loved it so much I didn't want it to end. It made me choke up not from tragedy but from the sheer humanity of it' Annie Lord

'The only beach (or back garden) read for those in the know' Sunday Times Magazine

'A book you itch to return to' Eva Wiseman, Guardian

'The book of the summer' Dazed

'McKennas evocative prose paints a love letter to London in all its grimy glory Service 95

'Tender and addictive. Perfect summer reading.' i Paper

'Heartfelt, vivid and sexy' London Standard

A love letter to cities and people and heartbreaks. It made me cry Eileen Myles

Astonishing. A magnificent read Russell Tovey

'The book insiders will be passing on to everyone this summer' Stylist

Sexy, clever and shockingly alive. I have never read a book that captures what London feels like so compellingly Tomasz Jedrowski

'The aching, swelling humanity of this book swallowed me whole' Saba Sams

'Zadie Smith-esque in its kaleidoscope of London. Compassionate, intelligent, hilarious' Niamh Campbell

'A novel brimming with life' Nicola Dinan

'Stunning. Guaranteed to be one of the books of the summer' Hero

'I was entirely consumed by it. Kate Young

Author Bio

Oisn McKenna grew up in Drogheda, Ireland, and lives in London. He was awarded the Next Generation Bursary from the Arts Council of Ireland to write Evenings and Weekends the highest award for an emerging artist in Ireland and it was developed with further funding from Arts Council England. Evenings and Weekends has been awarded a 2022 London Writers Award, which supports Londons most promising underrepresented writers. In 2017, Oisn was named in the Irish Times one of the best-spoken word artists in the country. He has written and performed four theatre shows, including ADMIN, an award-winning production at Dublin Fringe 2019, and has written for outlets including the Irish Times on issues such as gentrification and the alienation of Dublins youth.