The Alternatives by Caoilinn Hughes

The Alternatives by Caoilinn Hughes

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The Alternatives by Caoilinn Hughes

"A bold, beautiful, complex novel, and I can't wait to read what Hughes writes next. She, too, is an unstoppable force." --New York Times Book Review

"A tale about sisterhood, a novel of ideas, a chronicle of our collective follies, a requiem for our agonizing species, The Alternatives unfolds in a prose full of gorgeous surprises and glows with intelligence, compassion, and beauty." --Hernan Diaz

From the writer Anthony Doerr calls "a massive talent," the story of four brilliant Irish sisters, orphaned in childhood, who scramble to reconnect when the oldest disappears into the Irish countryside


The Flattery sisters were plunged prematurely into adulthood when their parents died in tragic circumstances. Now in their thirties--all single, all with PhDs--they are each attempting to do meaningful work in a rapidly foundering world. The four lead disparate, distanced lives, from classrooms in Connecticut to ritzy catering gigs in London's Notting Hill, until one day their oldest sister, a geologist haunted by a terrible awareness of the earth's future, abruptly vanishes from her work and home. Together for the first time in years, the Flatterys descend on the Irish countryside in search of a sister who doesn't want to be found. Sheltered in a derelict bungalow, they reach into their common past, confronting both old wounds and a desperately uncertain future. Warm, fiercely witty, and unexpectedly hopeful, The Alternatives is an unforgettable portrait of a family perched on our collective precipice, told by one of Ireland's most gifted storytellers.
SKU Unavailable
ISBN 13 9780593545010
ISBN 10 059354501X
Title The Alternatives
Author Caoilinn Hughes
Condition Unavailable
Binding Type Paperback
Publisher Penguin Putnam Inc
Year published 2025-04-15
Number of pages 352
Cover note Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note Unavailable