Longlisted for the 2020 Women's Prize for Fiction
An Andrew Carnegie Medal-Winning Author
Katherine O'Dell is an Irish theater legend. As her daughter, Norah, retraces her mother's celebrated career and bohemian life, she delves into long-kept secrets, both her mother's and her own. Katherine began her career on Ireland's bus-and-truck circuit before making it to London's West End, Broadway, and finally Hollywood. Every moment of her life is a performance, but with age, alcohol, and dimming stardom, Katherine's grip on reality grows fitful. Fueled by a proud and long-simmering rage, she commits a bizarre crime. As she revisits her mother's life of fiercely kept secrets; Norah reveals in turn the secrets of her own sexual and emotional coming-of-age story.