The Coast Road: Irish Book Awards Winner – A Gripping Literary Drama About Women's Lives in 1990s Ireland

Winner of the Irish Book Awards Newcomer of the Year 2024

Shortlisted for the John McGahern Annual Book Prize

A poignant debut novel and work of Irish literary fiction about the lives of women in a claustrophobic coast town and the search for independence in a society that seeks to limit it.

“Murrin powerfully renders the ways that women’s freedom, individuality, and self-expression are stifled by religion, custom, and gossip.”—The New Yorker

“A painful, gorgeous debut.”—Elle

Set in 1990s Ireland, The Coast Road tells the story of two women—Izzy Keaveney, a housewife, and Colette Crowley, a poet. Colette has left her husband and sons for a married man in Dublin. When she returns to her home in County Donegal to try to pick up the pieces of her old life, her husband, Shaun, a successful businessman, denies her access to her children.

The only way she can see them is with the help of neighbour Izzy, acting as a go-between. Izzy also feels caught in a troubled marriage. The complex female friendship that develops between them in this powerful domestic drama will ultimately lead to tragedy for one, and freedom for the other.

Addictive as Big Little Lies with a depth and compassion that rivals the works of Claire Keegan, Elizabeth Strout, and Colm Tóibín, The Coast Road is a story about the limits placed on women’s lives in Ireland only a generation ago, and the consequences women have suffered trying to gain independence. Award-winning Irish author Alan Murrin reminds us of the price we are forced to pay to find freedom.