Confessions by Catherine Airey

Confessions by Catherine Airey

*SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2025*

'An irresistible read' YAEL VAN DER WOUDEN, Women's Prize-winning author of THE SAFEKEEP

'An intricately woven epic, Confessions is both intimate and expansive, a novel that teems with raw, hungry life' COLIN WALSH, author of KALA

It is late September in 2001 and the walls of New York are papered over with photos of the missing. Cora Brady’s father is there, the poster she made taped to columns and bridges. Her mother died long ago and now, orphaned on the cusp of adulthood, Cora is adrift and alone.

Soon, a letter will arrive with the offer of a new life: far out on the ragged edge of Ireland, in the town where her parents were young, an estranged aunt can provide a home and fulfil a long-forgotten promise. There the story of Cora's family is hidden, and in her presence will begin to unspool…

An essential, immersive debut from an astonishing new voice, Confessions traces the arc of three generations of women as they experience in their own time the irresistible gravity of the past: its love and tragedy, its mystery and redemption, and, in all things intended and accidental, the beauty and terrible shade of the things we do.

'Propulsive and utterly captivating . . . Airey has shades of the American novelists Donna Tartt and Jeffrey Eugenides in her style' IRISH TIMES

‘A remarkable debut’ MIRANDA COWLEY HELLER, bestselling author of THE PAPER PALACE

'A cool, bold image of female pain and liberation' GUARDIAN

Catherine Airey grew up in England in a family of mixed Irish and English descent, and now lives in Bristol. Confessions is her first novel.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781405961530
ISBN 10	1405961538
Title	Confessions
Author	Airey Catherine
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Penguin Books Ltd
Year published	2026-03-05
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.