Holding Her Breath

SHORTLISTED FOR THE JOHN MCGAHERN PRIZE 2022

This critically acclaimed debut will be a guaranteed hit with literary fiction lovers this Christmas.

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A young woman comes of age in the shadow of her family''s tragic past

When Beth Crowe starts university, she is shadowed by the ghost of her potential as a competitive swimmer. Free to create a fresh identity for herself, she finds herself among people who adore the poetry of her grandfather, Benjamin Crowe, who died tragically before she was born. She embarks on a secret relationship - and on a quest to discover the truth about Benjamin and his widow, her beloved grandmother Lydia. The quest brings her into an archive that no scholar has ever seen, and to a person who knows things about her family that nobody else knows.

Holding Her Breath is a razor-sharp, moving and seriously entertaining novel about complicated love stories, ambition and grief - and a young woman coming fully into her powers.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE IRISH BOOK AWARDS 2021

SHORTLISTED FOR THE KATE O''BRIEN AWARD 2022
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''A stunning debut from this new Irish talent'' STELLAR

''A beautiful coming-of-age story told with impressive skill and lightness of touch . . . I absolutely loved it'' LOUISE O''NEILL

''Whip smart observations and addictive prose'' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

''Precise, sure, engaging, and a joy to read'' RODDY DOYLE

''A moving debut with a satisfying conclusion'' IRISH INDEPENDENT

''Brilliant, vivid - I enjoyed this book ENORMOUSLY'' MARIAN KEYES

''Enthralling'' IMAGE

''A nimble account of student life with a darkly enjoyable undercurrent of secrecy and emotional turmoil'' SARA BAUME

''A truly compelling read, and one I wholeheartedly recommend'' BUZZ

''Through the dark sky of our times, Eimear Ryan arrives like a comet, a bright talent scorching through every page'' DOIREANN NÍ GHRÍOFA, author of A Ghost in the Throat

''Brilliantly realised, gripping, and moving . . . This is absolutely the real thing'' KEVIN POWER

''Written with a wonderful clarity and insight, Holding Her Breath lingers in the imagination. Beth''s unravelling and re-ravelling is drawn with great skill and empathy. A brilliant debut'' DONAL RYAN