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The waitress. The chef. The chef's wife. Three different stories, but which one contains the truth When Hannah learns that famed chef Daniel Costello is facing accusations of sexual assault, she's thrust back to the summer she spent as a waitress at his high-end Dublin restaurant. Drawn in by the plush splendour of the dining rooms, the elegance of the food, the wild parties after service, Hannah also remembers the sizzling tension of the kitchens. And how the attention from Daniel morphed from kindness into something darker...His restaurant shuttered, his lawyers breathing down his neck, Daniel is in a state of disbelief. Decades of hard graft, of fighting to earn recognition for his talent - is it all to fall apart because of something he can barely remember Hiding behind the bedroom curtains from the paparazzi lenses, Julie is raking through more than two decades spent acting the supportive wife, the good mother, and asking herself what it's all been for. Their three different voices reveal a story of power and abuse, victimhood and complicity. This is a novel about the facades that we maintain, the lies that we tell and the courage it takes to face the truth.

Reviews

'Absolutely compelling. Every page fizzes with energy and observation. Gilmartin combines effortless, elegant writing with a momentum that propels you onwards, barely pausing until you've reached the end. A masterful novel' - Rebecca Wait, author of I'm Sorry You Feel That Way

'A powerful and compelling novel from a very gifted writer' - Joseph O'Connor, author of My Father's House and The Star of the Sea

'A hugely gripping literary page-turner. Sharp, visceral and shocking' - Claire Powell, author of At the Table

'Sarah Gilmartin's second novel is consummately done. The prose is clean, crisp, perfectly-filleted; the pace and tension perfectly controlled, to the very last page. Superb.' - Lucy Caldwell

'A brilliantly observed immersive novel which tells the 'me too' story from every angle' - Amber Medland, author of Wild Pets

Author Bio

SARAH GILMARTIN is a critic who reviews fiction for the Irish Times. She is co-editor of the anthology Stinging Fly Stories and has an MFA from University College Dublin. She won Best Playwright at the inaugural Short+Sweet Dublin festival. Her short stories have been published in The Dublin Review, The Tangerine and New Irish Writing. Her story 'The Wife' won the 2020 Mairtin Crawford Award at Belfast Book Festival. Her debut novel Dinner Party was an Irish Times bestseller and was shortlisted for Newcomer of the Year at the An Post Irish Book Awards.