‘Beautifully written’ LOUISE KENNEDY
‘Full of verve and wit and humanity’ MARY COSTELLO
‘Clever and original’ TLS
‘A tremendous new talent’ KEVIN BARRY
Mairéad works tirelessly in a run-down West End theatre’s wardrobe department – mending shoes, fixing broken zips and even handwashing underwear. She must also sidestep groping hands backstage and withstand the relentless bullying of the show’s producer.
The job was meant to be the first step towards the life Mairéad has always wanted, and yet half of her remains back home in Ireland, along with everything she abandoned there.
A reckoning with the past is coming and, with it, the need to forge a new present – one stitch at a time.
Genre: Literary Fiction
‘Full of verve and wit and humanity’ MARY COSTELLO
‘Clever and original’ TLS
‘A tremendous new talent’ KEVIN BARRY
Mairéad works tirelessly in a run-down West End theatre’s wardrobe department – mending shoes, fixing broken zips and even handwashing underwear. She must also sidestep groping hands backstage and withstand the relentless bullying of the show’s producer.
The job was meant to be the first step towards the life Mairéad has always wanted, and yet half of her remains back home in Ireland, along with everything she abandoned there.
A reckoning with the past is coming and, with it, the need to forge a new present – one stitch at a time.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"Elaine Garvey is a tremendous new talent in Irish writing - I'm certain the reader will recognise inside half a page that she's the real thing." - Kevin Barry
"Refreshing . . . Garvey excels is placing her heroine in the heart of a busy home, surrounded by people she's known since childhood, but among whom she feels utterly alone . . . Timely . . . Witty." - John Boyne
"The Wardrobe Department is full of verve and wit and humanity. In writing that is sharp and sassy, Garvey captures perfectly the complexities and heartbreak of a young woman's life and the great pull and push of home." - Mary Costello
"A truly beautiful novel. Mairead is an unforgettable character, revealed in tender, sharp, emotional prose. Garvey's sentences form a delicate pattern, the structure flawless, drawing the reader into the hidden world of London theatre and rural Ireland through complex relationships that question what it means to belong. The Wardrobe Department is that rare thing, already a classic. Garvey is an exquisite talent." - Olivia Fitzsimons
"Astutely observed and beautifully written. I rooted for Mairead all the way to the end of this impressive debut." - Louise Kennedy
"The Wardrobe Department is at once familiar and surprising, knotty and tender, tough and beguiling, and its author a sure hand with a light touch . . . Garvey [is] one of those enviable writers whose piercing eye for human contradiction and self-sabotage never dims her affection for the souls she's so beautifully painted." - Lisa McInerney
"A gift of a novel. I felt relieved after reading it, like I had been hungry for some elusive feeling, and finally found something that hit the spot. There are sentences in this book that will keep me going for a long time." - Louise Nealon
"Refreshing . . . Garvey excels is placing her heroine in the heart of a busy home, surrounded by people she's known since childhood, but among whom she feels utterly alone . . . Timely . . . Witty." - John Boyne
"The Wardrobe Department is full of verve and wit and humanity. In writing that is sharp and sassy, Garvey captures perfectly the complexities and heartbreak of a young woman's life and the great pull and push of home." - Mary Costello
"A truly beautiful novel. Mairead is an unforgettable character, revealed in tender, sharp, emotional prose. Garvey's sentences form a delicate pattern, the structure flawless, drawing the reader into the hidden world of London theatre and rural Ireland through complex relationships that question what it means to belong. The Wardrobe Department is that rare thing, already a classic. Garvey is an exquisite talent." - Olivia Fitzsimons
"Astutely observed and beautifully written. I rooted for Mairead all the way to the end of this impressive debut." - Louise Kennedy
"The Wardrobe Department is at once familiar and surprising, knotty and tender, tough and beguiling, and its author a sure hand with a light touch . . . Garvey [is] one of those enviable writers whose piercing eye for human contradiction and self-sabotage never dims her affection for the souls she's so beautifully painted." - Lisa McInerney
"A gift of a novel. I felt relieved after reading it, like I had been hungry for some elusive feeling, and finally found something that hit the spot. There are sentences in this book that will keep me going for a long time." - Louise Nealon
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