The Coast Road: A perfect book club read Sunday Times

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A perfect book club read ... Assured and powerful SUNDAY TIMES A compelling, compassionate page-turner OBSERVER I loved this novel ... An addictive read GILLIAN ANDERSON Moves between rage, forgiveness and hope ... A stonkingly good novel SARAH WINMAN A beautiful, accomplished debut LOUISE KENNEDY 'Impressive' TLS 'An absolute triumph ... I loved everything about it' GILL HORNBY Its 1994 in County Donegal, Ireland, and everyone is talking about Colette Crowley the writer, the bohemian, the woman who left her husband and sons to pursue a relationship with a married man in Dublin. But now Colette is back, and nobody knows why. Returning to the community to try and reclaim her old life, Colette quickly learns that they are unwilling to give it back to her. The man to whom she is still married is denying her access to her children, and while the legalisation of divorce might be just around the corner, Colette finds herself caught between her old life and the freedom for which she risked everything. Desperate to see her children, she enlists the help of Izzy, a housewife and mother of two, and the women forge a friendship that will send them on a spiralling journey one toward a path of self-discovery, and the other toward tragedy. Brilliantly observed from a sharp new literary talent, The Coast Road is a novel about a closed community and the consequences of daring to move against the tide.

Reviews

Beautifully written ... The novel is wonderful on what it means to live in a patriarchal society and the consequences women can suffer for trying to follow their dreams. Compelling * Daily Mail *
Murrins novel is immaculately crafted, his characterisation beautifully nuanced ... Murrins scrutiny of the communitys prejudice is shot through with humour, while he writes perceptively about love, desire and the limitations placed on women ... A compelling, compassionate page-turner * Observer *
Packed with shenanigans affairs, separations, deaths, priests and politics the narrative unfolds in a gossipy rush that is well suited to the small town milieu. But Murrin attends to a different kind of desperation too, the real and heartbreaking lack of agency for women in difficult, unsatisfying marriages in twentieth century Ireland. This is what elevates his novel, bringing the lives of his distinctive female characters into high definition ... Murrin switches with remarkable ease between the perspectives ... An engrossing read ... A gripping character-driven novel that is accessible and literary in style * Irish Times *
An absolute zinger ... A beautifully told, interwoven story full of really vivid characters ... If I didnt know it was a man who wrote it, I would definitely say it was a woman who wrote it, because he gets under the skin of the women characters in particular really well. Highly recommend it, its a beautiful read -- Barbara Scully, author of WISE UP [via Instagram]
If the book club queen Reese Witherspoon relocated to the Irish Republic, this would tick all her boxes ... This is an assured and powerful debut, and Murrin shows impressive imaginative power in inhabiting the hopes and fears of married, middle-aged mothers. Its well worth a slot in your book club calendar ... It is thoughtful, readable and funny, and even occasionally thrilling ... An assured and powerful debut, and Murrin shows impressive imaginative power * Sunday Times *
Scandal, hypocrisy and the stigma of divorce make this Irish novel sing ... The story is crisply told ... Murrin is sceptically yet tenderly observant' * Telegraph *
With nuanced observations, humour and heartbreak, the novel mirrors the backdrop of the sea, whose ebb and flow belies dangerous currents below the surface * Woman & Home, Book of the Month *
I loved this novel. All the female characters are complex and fascinating, and full of anger and hope. I found it an addictive read -- Gillian Anderson
Alan Murrin is a gifted storyteller, his characters so fully realised I fretted for them as I read. A beautiful, accomplished debut -- Louise Kennedy, author of TRESPASSES
I have been rooted to my sun bed gulping it down ... What an absolute triumph, and even more astonishing for being a debut. I loved everything about it and cant wait to read what he does next -- Gill Hornby
Alan Murrin writes with the calm, poetic fluency of the best of Irish writers. The Coast Road is set in Donegal the year before divorce became legal in Ireland, and the many themes are equally sadly as relevant now. Womens autonomy is beautifully scrutinised in a shifting tempo that moves between rage, forgiveness and hope. Its a stonkingly good novel. Just read it -- Sarah Winman, bestselling author of STILL LIFE
Tender, truthful and simmering with rage ... An emotionally eviscerating tale, told in deceptively calm prose * Mail on Sunday *
[A] Lyrical debut With nuanced observations, humour and heartbreak, the novel mirrors the backdrop of the sea, whose ebb and flow belies dangerous currents below the surface * Woman & Home, Book of the Month June 2024 *
Cheating husbands and wayward wives in a tiny coastal town, set during a time when divorce in Ireland was illegal, Alan Murrins The Coast Road had me at hello. The writing is spare and elegant, the setting atmospheric indeed, Murrins Ardglas is a character in its own right. An assured, gripping debut from an author I hope to read more of -- Jamie Quatro, author of FIRE SERMON
Psychologically rich, emotionally resonant, and powered by a vivid cast of characters, The Coast Road explores the intimacies that bind individuals and communities together for better and for worse. This is an incredibly satisfying novel, told with great tenderness and tremendous storytelling verve. A book to be savoured -- Colin Walsh, author of KALA
A smashing debut ... Each of the characters is vividly rendered, and Murrin excels at portraying the rippling consequences of small-town gossip and intolerance. This is a marvel * Publishers Weekly *
This beautifully atmospheric novel is a dark, unsettling warning about how easily narrow attitudes can turn into dangerous ones. An eerie, urgent debut from an exciting new voice -- Neil Blackmore, author of RADICAL LOVE
Propelled by a gripping narrative and powerfully drawn characters The Coast Road makes for compulsive reading. Alan Murrin has written a poignant, utterly truthful story of passions prejudice and tragedy in a small town. Brilliant -- Gabriel Byrne, prizewinning actor and author of WALKING WITH GHOSTS
An exceptional debut about marriage and freedom, about love and the ways it can heal and hurt us. A must read for 2024 -- Sarah Crossan, author of HERE IS THE BEEHIVE
This story of tragedy and strength casts you into the waves of small-town life * Sainsbury's Magazine *
Murrin writes with a masterful ease and confidence ... This is a strong story well told * Debut Digest *
Murrin inhabits his female characters with impressive confidence * Financial Times *
Alan Murrin is one of the sharpest new minds on the literary scene * Sheerluxe *
An astonishingly assured piece of writing ... An intricate and deeply compassionate study of womens lives and the forces that shape them * Marie Claire *
Impressive ... The Coast Road is entirely invested in its characters [and] captures suggestively a specific moment somewhere between amon de Valeras conservatism and the vainglory of the Celtic Tiger era ... It is also an intriguing addition to the the swelling library of contemporary Irish novels Claire Keegans Small Things Like These [and] Paul Murrays The Bee Sting * TLS *
The setting of The Coast Road is both viscerally realised and intensely purposeful ... Murrins insight into the female experience is practically note-perfect * Service95 *
A compelling snapshot of one conservative Catholic community ahead of a landmark change to domestic life ... Murrin is an astute and sensitive writer ... in Murrins capable hands, its a story that will make you think not least about the slow pace of change in Catholic Ireland * Spectator *
An assured, engrossing and enviably readable debut -- Louise Kennedy * Guardian *
Alan Murrin's The Coast Road weaves a story of suspense, resentment and desire in 1994 Ireland ... written in prose thats as moody, striking and lovely as the landscape ... [a] compelling, suspenseful novel * Berliner *
Murrin's story has crispness, tenderness and observative power in equal measure -- Telegraph

Author Bio

Alan Murrin is an Irish fiction writer based in Berlin. In 2021 he was the winner of the Bournemouth Writing Prize for his short story The Wake, which went on to be shortlisted for short story of the year at the Irish Book Awards. He is the recipient of an Irish Arts Council Agility Award and an Arts Council Literature Bursary. He is a graduate of the prose fiction masters at the University of East Anglia. His work was featured as part of the New Irish Writing series in the Irish Independent. His work has been short-listed for the Irish Arts and Writers Festival short story prize, the New Irish Writing in Germany Prize, and he was long-listed for the 2021 University of Essex International short story prize. He writes for the Irish Times, Times Literary Supplement and Spectator. His writing on art and photography has appeared in Art Review and The White Review.