Caoilinn Hughes

From the writer Anthony Doerr calls 'a massive talent', The Alternatives is the story of four brilliant sisters, orphaned in childhood, who scramble to reconnect when the eldest disappears into the Irish countryside *A Book of the Year according to The Irish Times, Irish Independent, Good Housekeeping, Readings Australia and Libreria'Surprising and delightful... The Alternatives made me laugh, cry, and think.' Louise Kennedy, author of TrespassesPerfect for fans of Jonathan Franzen, Maggie O'Farrell and Claire Vaye Watkins. OLWEN. NELL. MAEVE. RHONA. MEET THE FLATTERY SISTERS. Olwen, Nell, Maeve and Rhona were plunged prematurely into adulthood when their parents died in a tragic twist of fate. Now in their thirties, the sisters barely speak, each too busy carving out impressive careers. But when Olwen – reluctant matriarch, lodestar and, of late, zealous consumer of gin – abruptly disappears, her sisters are cast back together to find her, whether she likes it or not. When they eventually track Olwen down, she is holed up in a remote bungalow in rural Ireland, with little electricity and a patchy connection to the outside world. Together for the first time in years, the sisters vie to confront old wounds and diagnose new ills – most urgently, Olwen's. Fiercely witty and unexpectedly hopeful, The Alternatives is an unforgettable portrait of a family perched on a precipice, told by one of Ireland's most gifted storytellers. 'Bold, witty and intellectual... A book of intelligent women that very successfully plays with form and intertwined big ideas.' Sunday Independent

'Caoilinn Hughes is a massive talent.' - Anthony Doerr, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of All the Light We Cannot See A dazzlingly original debut set in Dublin, London and New York, exploring the ethical underbelly of contemporary society through the coming-of-age of an utterly singular heroine: Gael Foess Orchid & the Wasp brings to life the charged, compulsive voice of Gael Foess - daughter of a self-interested investment banker and a once-formidable orchestral conductor, and sister to a vulnerable younger brother - as she strives to build a life raft in the midst of economic and familial collapse. Moving by wits alone, Gael cuts a swathe through the leather-lined, coke-dusted social clubs of London, the New York gallery scene and birth-throes of the Occupy movement. Written in heart-stoppingly vivid prose, Orchid & the Wasp is a modern-day Bildungsroman that chews through sexuality, class and contemporary politics and crackles with joyful fury and anarchic gall. It examines how we can fail our loved ones by what we want for them; what makes for a good life; what we are owed and what we must earn; and how events in our lives can turn us into people we never intended to be. A first novel of astonishing talent, Orchid & the Wasp announces Caoilinn Hughes as one of the most exciting literary writers working today.