From one of Ireland’s most original and admired con- temporary writers comes a story of rage and reckoning, joy and transformation, and one woman’s decision to leave everything behind. It’s the perfect description for Dublin writer Cathy Sweeney’s debut novel, Breakdown, which was published in January to widespread acclaim. A vivid character study of a woman adrift, Breakdown tells the story of a middle-class woman who wakes up one morning in her cosy suburban home, next to her hus– band while her two children sleep, and without conscious purpose walks out the front door and never returns. She travels by car, train and ferry. Along the way, she finds herself in service stations, shopping centres and hotel bars – and in the beds of strange men – questioning her life and its social norms: from friendships and her mar- riage to her career and society’s expectations of wives and mothers. A sharp and insightful novel, Sweeney’s vivid character portrait explores the very specific ques- tions of female identity in Ireland. Breakdown follows Sweeney’s critically acclaimed 2020 short story collec– tion Modern Times. The teacher-turned-writer’s work has been published everywhere from The Stinging Fly to the Winter Papers, Banshee and broadcasted on BBC Radio 4. Next for Sweeney is a daring novel based on a period of Oscar Wilde’s life. Considering everything this writer touches turns to gold, Sweeney’s future works will be pure literary gifts.
