The Little Red Chairs - Tapa blanda

The great Edna O'Brien has written her masterpiece. (Philip Roth)

Astonishing . . . A remarkable novel . . . A vital and engrossing experience. (James Wood The New Yorker)

An extraordinary triumph ... This is storytelling of the highest order, resounding with the empathy and authority we yearn for in fine writing ... Edna O'Brien is one of the greatest Irish writers, of this or any era. (Joseph O'Connor Sunday Independent)

Edna O'Brien has created a memorable work of art for our unsettled times ... Her prose is as lyrically arresting as ever, her vision as astute, and as delicate. The Little Red Chairs is notable for its interweaving of the near-mythical and the urgent present, and for its unflinching exploration of the complex and lasting effects of human brutality ... at once arduous and beautiful. (Claire Messud Financial Times)

O'Brien is a very gifted novelist ... There is much to think about in this rich, searching and enthralling book, a novel of ideas as well as emotions, and arguably one of the most interesting and ambitious ever written by an Irish author. (Éilís Ní Dhuibhne Irish Times)

The product of an extraordinary talent ... a novel that leaves an indelible impression - gorgeously written and fiercely humane. (Stephanie Cross Daily Mail)

Authoritative and engrossing ... filled with a narrative energy and aplomb ... O'Brien is among the most compellingly observant of present-day novelists. (Patricia Craig Independent)

Magnificent ... O'Brien has broadened her focus to the international arena, letting out a forceful cry against human brutality ... a timely and defiant book. (Lucy Atkins Sunday Times)

This isn't simply a story about hope, deception and betrayal. O'Brien questions the nature of evil throughout but also wonders whether there is room for redemption and how we can find our way back to the flock. While O'Brien remains a literary great, she wears this mantle lightly in this provocative, moving, masterly and offbeat work. (Fiona Wilson The Times)

The Little Red Chairs is a daring invention set at the bloody crossroads where worlds collide: savage, tender and true. (John Banville)

A SUNDAY TIMES TOP 100 NOVEL OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY A Sunday Times, Observer, Financial Times and Sunday Express Book of the Year When a man who calls himself a faith healer arrives in a small, west-coast Irish village, the community is soon under the spell of this charismatic stranger from the Balkans. One woman in particular, Fidelma McBride, becomes enthralled in a fatal attraction that leads to unimaginable consequences. The BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of Edna O'Brien's The Country Girls trilogy begins in August 2019. Her stunning new novel Girl will be published by Faber in September 2019, available to pre-order now.