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Trespasses

By: Louise Kennedy
Narrated by: Brid Brennan
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Publisher's Summary

* THE NO. 1 BESTSELLER (The Times) *

* SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2023 * 

* WINNER OF THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS BOOK OF THE YEAR: DEBUT FICTION *

* WINNER OF THE AN POST IRISH BOOK AWARDS NOVEL OF THE YEAR 2022 * 

* SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2022 * 

* AN OBSERVER BEST DEBUT NOVELIST OF 2022 * 

* A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIME *  

One by one, she undid each event, each decision, each choice. If Davy had remembered to put on a coat. If Seamie McGeown had not found himself alone on a dark street. If Michael Agnew had not walked through the door of the pub on a quiet night in February in his white shirt. 

There is nothing special about the day Cushla meets Michael, a married man from Belfast, in the pub owned by her family. But here, love is never far from violence, and this encounter will change both of their lives forever.  

As people get up each morning and go to work, school, church or the pub, the daily news rolls in of another car bomb exploded, another man beaten, killed or left for dead. In the class Cushla teaches, the vocabulary of seven-year-old children now includes phrases like ‘petrol bomb’ and ‘rubber bullets’. And as she is forced to tread lines she never thought she would cross, tensions in the town are escalating, threatening to destroy all she is working to hold together.  

Tender and shocking, Trespasses is an unforgettable debut of people trying to live ordinary lives in extraordinary times.

A 2022 BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR: THE TIMES * SUNDAY TIMES * GUARDIAN * TELEGRAPH * NEW STATESMAN * DAILY MAIL * IRISH TIMES * IRISH INDEPENDENT * BELFAST TELEGRAPH

©2022 Louise Kennedy (P)2022 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Critic Reviews

"A deeply impressive novel...[Kennedy] writes beautifully about love, awkward love, love between two people who the more censorious in our midst might say have no business being in love.... It feels true and honest, heartbreaking and tender...I love it." (Ronan Bennett)

'A compulsively readable love story." (Emma Donoghue)

"A beautiful, devastating novel." (Nick Hornby)

What listeners say about Trespasses

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Compelling

I loved it. Sad, real, thoughtful and compelling. A work of note. A must read/listen

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1 person found this helpful

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Fantastic Novel

This is an exquisitely crafted and engrossing book. I highly recommend reading and or listening to it.

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Incredibly deep and moving novel. So compelling I listened straight through

This is a wonderful, thoughtful novel. A complex love story, in a complex time. Such real characters, beautifully developed.
As good a novel as you will read or listen to. I’ve listened to all the Irish long and short listed for the 2023( plus most others) and this as good as all of those novels.
So compelling I listened to it straight through.
Bird Brennan is a fantastic narrator, she did an equally fantastic narration of the Milkman novel.

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Unforgettable characters, beautifully read, heartfelt and reflective.

Loved this book from the very first word. The characters were relatable and real.
Heart opening tale of love in the time of “The Troubles”. Beautifully told.

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Brilliant

Real characters. Likeable and relatable. This will turn into a classic book that is a must read. I wish the ending wasn’t so short but it is a really great story.

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Heartbreaking lovely

How awful it must have been to have lived through that violence and prejudiced but there were fleeting warmth and compassion that makes us human. The reader was amazing

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Devastating and beautiful

I loved this book. A deeply moving story about good people forced to live in constantly threatening and oppressive circumstances. The characters feel complex and real, and it is so well read by Brid Brennan.

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Could not stop listening

A bittersweet love story against the back drop of The Troubles in 70s Northern Ireland. The narrator was great and brought the various characters to life.

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Loved it!

I loved this audiobook, great story and lovely narration. Such a pleasure to listen to this book.

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Excellent narration of a great story

This engaging story provides an insight into 1970s Ireland and the occupation by British soldiers.

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