Bestselling Irish author Mary Costello will be at Kennys Bookshop on March 3rd, joining Sarah Kenny in conversation about her new book A Beautiful Loan.

Tickets for this event are free but are limited, and you can book below.

Mary Costello lives in Galway. Her short story collection, The China Factory, was nominated for the Guardian First Book Award and shortlisted for an Irish Book Award. Her first novel, Academy Street, won the Irish Novel of the Year Award at the Irish Book Awards and was named overall Irish Book of the Year. It was serialised on BBC Radio 4’s Book at Bedtime and was shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award, the Costa First Novel Prize, the EU Prize for Literature and the Prix Littéraire des Ambassadeurs de la Francophonie en Irlande, and has been translated into several languages. Her critically acclaimed second novel, The River Capture was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards, the Kerry Novel of the Year and the Dalkey Novel Award. Her second short story collection, Barcelona was an Irish Times Bestseller.

About A Beautiful Loan:
My name is Anna, and for some time now, I have been trying to account for certain events in my life – my adult life, that is – which, from this vantage point of forty-five years, I often find baffling . . .

In 1985 Dublin, nineteen-year-old Anna Hughes is in thrall to Peter Gallagher, an older, worldly man. Anna is new to the city, introverted and naïve, and Peter’s experience, wide circle of friends and thirst for adventure captivate her. Her obsessive longing for him leads to marriage and, eventually, a crushing betrayal.

As Anna’s life becomes less predictable, she uncovers deeper layers of herself. Her journey gives an intimate portrait of a woman embracing herself as she is, and claiming the life she yearns for.

Signed copies of the book will be available to purchase from Kennys on the night. If you have any questions on this event or would like to be notified of other events at Kennys Bookshop, please email martha@kennys.ie.