Mount Merrion

Description

Meet the Boyles - and follow them across four decades in Justin Quinn's rich and gripping debut Declan and Sinead Boyle are pillars of society - born into prosperous families, educated at Dublin's finest schools, dwellers in a fine house in a leafy suburb. So why are they in so much trouble? Mount Merrion, the dazzling debut novel by Justin Quinn, tells the story of the Boyles from Declan and Sinead's first meeting, in the late fifties, through decades of success, failure and tragedy. Set against the brilliantly realized backdrop of a changing Ireland, it is a page-turning drama, a biting satire and a lovingly detailed portrait of a marriage and a family.

Justin Quinn was born, raised and educated in Dublin. Mount Merrion is his first novel.

[Quinn's] assured debut plays out over half a century - a state-of-the-nation novel as told through the fast-changing fortunes of middle-class married life ... his novel is filled with perfectly judged moments * Independent * Imaginative and compassionate ... Mount Merrion is about how a decent man, anxious to play by the rules - even if they're someone else's rules - can make the sort of choices that may end up ruining him * Mail on Sunday * Justin Quinn's debut novel is poignant - but it is also fiercely and poetically written, a beautifully observed trajectory of the rise and fall of a society and its assumptions, through the medium of a family story ... This is one of the best books of the year * Evening Herald * Mesmerising ... The story is a page-turner, and Quinn's prose consistently light and controlled * Irish Independent * A great story ... both beautifully written and a well-paced page-turner * Irish Times * A book that people will find hard to put down ... a gripping story * Sunday Business Post * An impressively accomplished trip through forty-odd years of Ireland's recent history ... quite brilliant * RTE Guide * Exquisite * Irish Examiner * An epic yet intimate account of one family caught in the maelstrom of recent history * Metro Herald * Accomplished ... as a condition-of-Ireland novel it makes for salutary reading * TLS * A bona fide thumping good read * Image * An ambitious take on both personal dramas and the altering political landscape of Europe * Sunday Telegraph *