
The Mess We're In (Hardback)
Annie Macmanus (author)Published: 11/05/2023

From the author of the acclaimed Mother Mother comes a kinetic novel all about the music and madness of the millennium, as Irish girl Orla arrives in London with dreams of making it big in the recording industry.
'I'm a Londoner now. I'm a voice in the noise. I'm ready.'
It's the turn of the millennium and, landing in London with nothing but her CD collection and demo tape, Orla Quinn moves into a squalid Kilburn house with her best mate and a band called Shiva. Orla wants to make music, but juggling two jobs and partying every night isn't helping. Back in Ireland her parents' marriage has crumbled, she's not speaking to her father, and her mother and sister are drinking too much.
While Orla's own dreams seem to be going nowhere, Shiva are on the brink of something big. But as the hype around the band intensifies, so does the hedonism, and relationships in the house are growing strained.
This is the story of a young woman thrashing through life, trying to find home in a strange new place. It's also a story about music: how it can break you down and build you back up again, and how to find your rhythm when all you hear is noise.
Publisher: Headline Publishing Group
ISBN: 9781472297129
Number of pages: 384
Weight: 600 g
Dimensions: 236 x 162 x 38 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'I really liked the book. I loved the pace of it, it belts along but never feels rushed. The writing is so vivid - I could almost feel Orla's hangover, and everyone else's too. [Macmanus has] created a great gang of characters, and a great variety too, all of them very human . . . All the music in the novel is cleverly and very successfully achieved. And London - what [she's] managed to do with London, and what London means to different generations of Irish people - is terrific, and deeply moving.' - Roddy Doyle
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“Brilliant dialogue and capturing perfectly the essence of life as a 20 something”
I've not read anything by Annie Macmanus before so I wasn't sure what to expect. However, "The Mess We're In" strikes the perfect balance of music industry knowledge and life for a young... More
“We used to rave now we read…”
Many thanks to NetGalley and Headline Books for this advanced digital reader copy for review.
Always a bit dubious when a ‘famous face’ branches out into writing novels - but this is incredible. The nostalgic vibes...
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