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The End of the World Is a Cul de Sac: Stories Audiobook
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Publisher Description
Brilliant, dark stories of women’s lives by “a very major talent” (Joseph O’Connor, Irish Times)
In these visceral, stunningly crafted stories by the author of the much-acclaimed Trespasses, women’s lives are etched by poverty—material, emotional, sexual—but also splashed by beauty, sometimes even joy, as they search for the good in the cards they’ve been dealt.
A wife is abandoned by her new husband in a derelict housing estate, with blood on her hands. An expectant mother’s worst fears about her husband’s entanglement with a teenage girl are confirmed. A sister is tormented by visions of the man her brother murdered during the Troubles. A woman struggles to forgive herself after an abortion threatens to destroy her marriage. Plumbing the depths of intimacy, violence, and redemption, these stories are “dazzling, heartbreaking . . . keen to share the lessons of a lifetime” (Guardian).
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“Award-winning Irish actor Brid Brennan employs her melodic contralto to fine effect in her excellent narration…Brennan gives characters just enough individuality for listeners to feel in their conversation hope, intimidation, happiness, or pain…Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”
— AudioFile
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“These are lives in progress, bolstered by richly imagined back stories, that we dip into for a critical moment or stage.”
— Minneapolis Star-Tribune -
“Irish in its lyricism and landscape, universal in its portrayal of the vagaries of the heart.”
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review) -
Irish in its lyricism and landscape, universal in its portrayal of the vagaries of the heart.
— Kirkus Reviews (starred) -
Incisive stories [of] women at precipitous turning points in their lives. … Each story reverberates with a sense of the far-reaching effect of choices made or imposed. It adds up to a remarkable and cohesive collection.
— Publishers Weekly -
Like fifteen novels squeezed between two covers, ready to blow your mind. The only other writer I can think of who packs this much moving, terrible life into each story is Alice Munro.
— Emma Donoghue -
Dazzling, heartbreaking . . . these fifteen taut tales recall Annie Proulx at her best: salty, wise, droll and keen to share the lessons of a lifetime.
— Guardian -
Gritty, bitter, hard-won. . . Kennedy's voice, and her unforgiving gaze, are electric.
— Sunday Times (London) -
I love Kennedy's vividly conjured reality. Her prose is so alive, I am surprised that the book stays shut when you close it.
— Anne Enright -
Darkly funny, beautifully crafted, intense - this is an outstanding first collection from a natural story writer
— Kevin Barry
Awards
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Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award
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An Amazon Editor’s Top Pick
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About Louise Kennedy
Louise Kennedy is the author of the novel, Trespasses, and a collection of short stories, The End of the World Is a Cul de Sac. She has written for The Guardian (London), The Irish Times (Dublin), and BBC Radio 4. She grew up near Belfast, Northern Ireland. Before becoming a writer, she worked as a chef for almost thirty years. She lives in Sligo, Ireland.