• Mother Mother by Annie Macmanus
  • Mother Mother by Annie Macmanus
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Mother Mother

A poignant journey of friendship and forgiveness
  • Author
    • Annie Macmanus
£8.99
£8.99
THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER, JUNE 2021

'Annie Macmanus is writer whose understanding and capturing of human nature comes as easily to her as breathing' CANDICE CARTY-WILLIAMS

'A work of gilded melancholy that is going to take everyone by surprise' UNA MULLALLY

'Macmanus writes with flair and confidence rarely seen in a debut' SINÉAD GLEESON

One Saturday morning, TJ McConnell wakes up to find his mother, Mary, gone. He doesn't know where - or why - but he's the only one who can help find her.

Mary grew up longing for information about the mother she never knew. Her brother could barely remember her, and their father numbed his pain with drink.

Now aged thirty-seven, Mary has lived in the same house her whole life. She's never left Belfast. TJ, who's about to turn eighteen, is itching to see more of the world.

But when his mother disappears, TJ begins to realise what he's been taking for granted.

MOTHER MOTHER takes us down the challenging road of Mary's life while following TJ's increasingly desperate search for her, as he begins to discover what has led her to this point.

This is a story about family, grief, addiction and motherhood, and it asks an important question - if you spend your life giving everything to the ones you love, do you risk losing yourself along the way?

'A brilliant book...that explores the brutal legacy of addiction and the consequences of a deep grief left to stagnate' Sara Cox

'A tender, surprising, occasionally bleak, moving and delicate book' Irish Times

'A study of grief, addiction and what it means to be a mother' Stylist

'Melancholy, beautifully unadorned prose' Mail on Sunday

'Unflinching and unsparing but also beautifully written' Daily Mail

'An incredible debut' Daily Mirror

'A page-turning exploration of grief, addiction, young motherhood and unbreakable family ties' British Vogue
  • Published: Mar 17 2022
  • 196 x 126mm
  • ISBN: 9781472275929

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Press Reviews

  • Sara Cox, broadcaster and author of TILL THE COWS COME HOME

    Prepare to fall in love with Mary, to want to reach right into the pages and hold her as a child and help her as an adult. MOTHER MOTHER is a brilliant book that takes you with it on a journey of struggle, friendship and forgiveness that explores the brutal legacy of addiction and the consequences of a deep grief left to stagnate

  • Una Mullally, journalist and broadcaster

    Macmanus' immersive novel reminds us that the minutiae of daily struggles are always worth homing in on. Her meditative, considered writing constantly pulls us towards the messy experience of life itself, where there is hope to be found in the grind of intergenerational trauma, and beauty amongst the brokenness. This is a work of gilded melancholy that is going to take everyone by surprise

  • Emily Eavis, co-author of GLASTONBURY 50

    I adored it. I loved the characters and stories, and I became completely immersed in that world. It's so beautifully written... Moving and brilliant

  • Jan Carson, author of THE FIRE STARTERS

    A brave and occasionally heartbreaking portrait of a family falling apart and the woman who's been holding them all together for far too long. Macmanus' debut novel is assured, evocative and, like her characters, full of gentle strength

  • Laura Snapes, journalist

    Superb... [Macmanus is] brilliant at voice and motivation and the (historic and emotional) passage of time; at making households so vivid you know their smell. Can't recommend enough

  • Clover Stroud, author of MY WILD AND SLEEPLESS NIGHTS

    I loved this book and felt powerfully connected to every character I met within its pages. Tender and deeply felt, it's a beautiful portrayal of the pain and beauty of normal life, told in hauntingly lyrical prose. Poignant and beautifully observed, it was a novel that stayed with me a long time, reminding me again and again of the secrets hidden within the most seemingly normal lives, and the awe-inspiring power and resilience of women everywhere

  • Sinéad Gleeson, author of CONSTELLATIONS

    A hugely entertaining and emotional story about intergenerational loss and love, trauma and acceptance. Macmanus writes with flair and confidence rarely seen in a debut
  • Sunday Business Post
    'A brilliant debut novel from an exciting new voice in literature . . . Macmanus makes weaving a decades-spanning, multiple- perspective narrative look easy in this highly accomplished debut'
  • Mail on Sunday
    Melancholy, beautifully unadorned prose
  • Stylist Magazine
    A study of grief, addiction and what it means to be a mother
  • Daily Mirror
    An incredible debut
  • British Vogue
    A page-turning exploration of grief, addiction, young motherhood and unbreakable family ties
  • The Irish Times
    MOTHER MOTHER is a tender, surprising, occasionally bleak, moving and delicate book
  • Daily Mail
    Unflinching and unsparing but also beautifully written
  • The New European
    Macmanus writes with flair and confidence rarely seen in a debut
  • Waitrose Weekend
    Written with a poet's ear for language

  • Candice Carty-Williams, author of QUEENIE

    I loved it. Annie Macmanus is writer whose understanding and capturing of human nature comes as easily to her as breathing