Hagstone: The instant Irish bestselling debut novel - ‘I tore through it’ David Nicholls Luisterboek Tooltip Luisterboeken beluister je met de bol.com Kobo app.

The instant Irish bestseller

‘Wild, singular… gripped me from the start’ DOUGLAS STUART

'Passionate, wild, hugely atmospheric' DAVID NICHOLLS

‘Intelligent, probing’ MAGGIE O'FARRELL

‘A gorgeous, mysterious read’ AISLING BEA

‘Wild, elemental… I adored it’ LOUISE KENNEDY

*A most anticipated 2024 debut in BBC, Daily Mail, Stylist, New Statesman, Sunday Independent, Irish Times, Irish Examiner, The Journal and The New European*

The haunting debut novel from beloved, Irish no. 1 bestselling author, Sinéad Gleeson.

The sea is steady for now. The land readies itself. What can be done with the woman on the cliff?

On a wild and rugged island cut off and isolated to some, artist Nell feels the island is her home. It is the source of inspiration for her art, rooted in landscape, folklore and the feminine. The mysterious Inions, a commune of women who have travelled there from all over the world, consider it a place of refuge and safety, of solace in nature.

All the islanders live alongside the strange murmurings that seem to emanate from within the depths of the island, a sound that is almost supernatural – a Summoning as the Inions call it. One day, a letter arrives at Nell’s door from the reclusive Inions who invite Nell into the commune for a commission to produce a magnificent art piece to celebrate their long history. In its creation, Nell will discover things about the community and about herself that will challenge everything she thought she knew.

Beautifully written, prescient and eerily haunting, Sinéad Gleeson’s debut novel takes in the darker side of human nature and the mysteries of faith and the natural world.

‘Original and captivating’ BBC

‘Startling, engrossing, darkly playful’ RODDY DOYLE

‘Wonderfully surprising and totally original’ ELAINE FEENEY

‘[This] magnificent debut novel is that rare thing: a literary page-turner’ JENNIFER HIGGIE

Sinéad Gleeson’s essay collection 'Constellations: Reflections from Life' won Non-Fiction Book of the Year at the 2019 Irish Book Awards, and the Emerging Writer award at the 2020 Dalkey Literary Awards.

The psychological depth of Gleeson's characters is a testament to her skill as a writer, weaving a narrative that is as much about the environment of the rural, small town as it is about the people who inhabit it. The feminist undertones of the story add a layer of complexity, making Hagstone a top pick for any lover of fiction.

For fans of Anne Enright (The Wren, The Wren), Paul Lynch (Prophet Song), George Saunders (Civilwarland In Bad Decline), Edel Coffey (Breaking Point), and Nora Ephron (The Most of Nora Ephron).

HarperCollins 2024