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Close to Home

Winner of the Nero Book Award for Debut Fiction 2023

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Close to Home

By: Michael Magee
Narrated by: Conor MacNeill
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Brought to you by Penguin.

WINNER OF THE ROONEY PRIZE FOR LITERATURE 2023
WATERSTONES IRISH BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023

SHORTLISTED FOR THE NERO BOOK AWARDS 2023
SHORTLISTED FOR THE IRISH BOOK AWARDS NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR 2023
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2023

Sean is back. Back in Belfast and back into old habits. Back on the mad all-nighters, the borrowed tenners and missing rent, the casual jobs that always fall through. Back in these scarred streets, where the promised prosperity of peacetime has never arrived. Back among his brothers, his ma, and all the things they never talk about. Until one night Sean finds himself at a party – dog-tired, surrounded by jeering strangers, his back against the wall – and he makes a big mistake.

'Staggeringly humane, unfaltering, taut and tender... [It] feels like that rarest of things: a genuinely necessary book' Guardian

'Every detail rings true, every character is fleshy and real and heartbreaking... Michael Magee has a remarkable talent' Sunday Times

©2023 Michael Magee (P)2023 Penguin Audio

 Coming of Age Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Political

Critic Reviews

Exceptional . . . Every detail rings true, every character is fleshy and real and heartbreaking . . . Magee has a remarkable talent
Taut and impressive, unfaltering and deftly executed . . . [It] feels like that rarest of things: a genuinely necessary book
An exceptional debut destined for novel of the year shortlists
Michael Magee is a born storyteller. By the end of the novel I wanted to book a flight to Ireland just to walk around and imagine who was where . . . I read this in two or three sittings only because I wanted to slow down and spend more time with Magee's considered and companionate writing. I finished it only last month, but plan to take it with me abroad to enjoy it once more
A vision of a post-conflict Belfast that didn't deliver what it promised, blighted by poverty, pain and memory. But far from being bleak, I laughed out loud many times. And it is full of love. Each character is so vividly drawn that I felt like I had met them somewhere before; even the most flawed of them is treated with dignity and respect, and an absence of judgement that reminded me of Annie Ernaux. And the writing! Supple, rich and demotic - Kneecap meets Chekhov - no one else is doing this. I had great hopes for this novel and Michael Magee has booted it out of the park. Absolutely glorious. (Louise Kennedy, author of 'Trespasses')
Unflinching, direct, disarmingly sensitive . . . Suffusing his narrative with honesty and grace, Magee succeeds in bringing his neighborhood to life for readers and suggests that, amid what seems like a never-ending struggle, there is always room for hope
Michael Magee's Close to Home, amazingly a first novel, is about what it's like to be young and working class right now in Northern Ireland, and is a tremendous read, tensed and immersive, punching the air between hope and despair, deeply decent, unputdownable
Wonderful. A debut overflowing with years of experience and carefully worked craft. By turns hard-edged and soft-hearted, this novel is a gift from Michael Magee to us all (Jon McGregor, author of 'Reservoir 13')
The message of Michael Magee's dead-on debut novel is universal. At its core, Close to Home is about finding a way to transcend the pain, the people and the place you're born into
A complex and compassionate portrait of modern Belfast by an impressive new talent . . . Close to Home is a working class novel, an Irish novel, a bildungsroman, a novel about the self-congratulatory failures of Northern Ireland's political elite . . . [and a] sharp deconstruction of toxic masculinity
All stars
Most relevant
A fantastic debut with a voice that definitely resonated with me. The performance was solid.

A brilliant debut

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Great story, dark at times and a great insight into modern Belfast and the changes that are unfolding..
Conor Mac Neil captures the tone (and accents) beautifully

Brilliantly Read by Conor MacNeil

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this is probably the best audio book I've listen to . the narrator pulled me right into Sean's world .

gripping

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Loved this book which beautifully tells how hard it is to escape the chains of class, culture and childhood. Brilliant narration!

Gritty, tender and real.

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Enjoyed every word. Brought me right back to the Gates of Milltown and Belfast City cemeteries. both were foremost in my visit home.

The whole book was like sitting down and listening to the factual, lived experienced stories of my relatives.

Well worth the listening, especially as the narrator was exceptional good. Thank you to the writer and narrator for this exceptional, vivid experience.

My holiday Home

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