The Women Behind the Door

£9.99

At 66, Paula Spencer – mother, grandmother, widow, addict, survivor – is finally living her life. A job at the dry cleaners she enjoys, a man – Joe – with whom she shares what she wants, friends who see her for who she is, and four grown children, now with families and petty dramas the likes of which Paula could only have hoped for. Despite its ghosts, Paula has started to push her past aside. That is until Paula’s eldest, Nicola, turns up on her doorstep. Independent, affluent, a loving wife and mother, ‘a success’ – Nicola is suddenly determined to leave it all behind. Over the next few days, as Nicola gradually confides in Paula the secret that unleashed this moment of crisis, mother and daughter find themselves untangling anecdotes, jokes, memory and revelation to confront the bruised but beautiful symmetry of what each means to the other.

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Description

‘A brilliant, one-of-a-kind writer’ DAVID NICHOLLS

At sixty-six, Paula Spencer – mother, grandmother, widow, survivor – is finally living her life.

A job at the dry cleaners she enjoys, a man – Joe – with whom she shares what she wants, friends who see her for who she is, and four grown children. Despite its ghosts, Paula has started to push her past aside.

That is until Paula’s eldest, Nicola, turns up on her doorstep. Independent, a loving wife and mother, “a success” – Nicola is suddenly determined to leave it all behind.

Over the next few days, as Nicola gradually confides in Paula the secret that unleashed this moment of crisis, they find themselves embracing the bruised but beautiful symmetry of what each means to the other.

‘His best yet?full of energy and life’ OBSERVER

‘Reading [Paula Spencer’s] voice for the first time sent a pang of recognition through me, followed by love’ ANNE ENRIGHT

‘Storytelling genius’ i PAPER

A GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE YEAR
SHORTLISTED FOR THE IRISH BOOK AWARDS NOVEL OF THE YEAR 2024

Read a sample here

Additional information

Weight 0.194 kg
Dimensions 19.8 × 13 × 1.8 cm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Paperback

Pages

272

Language

English

Edition

1st paperback ed

Dewey

823.92 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K