"Kennedy's droll wit and spot-on dialogue brilliantly illuminate her characters' travails." --New York Times Book Review

"These gritty stories are marked by dark wit and avid artistry. . . . Literature with backbone." --Boston Globe

"These are lives in progress, bolstered by richly imagined back stories, that we dip into for a critical moment or stage...Kennedy packs these stories with life. . . entrancing." --Star-Tribune

"Quietly bleak and deliciously detailed." --Shondaland

"Dazzling. . . . Brace for a tense and provocative examination of women's lives, and how perseverance can push you through the direst circumstances." --Real Simple

"A contemporary publishing unicorn: a work of extraordinary craftsmanship, written by someone who knows something about life." --Compact Magazine

"This taut, sometimes surreal collection is all about women's lives and it dives to gut-twisting depths and soars to dizzying heights. Perfect for women and anyone who's ever met one." --Good Housekeeping

"One of the most exciting voices in Irish literature." --Chicago Review of Books

"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