Published 4th June 2026 by Oneworld.
From the cover of the book:
What do you do when you've ruined your life? You go home to your mother, if you're lucky enough still to have one. Saoirse Maher wouldn't recommend it.
Leaving home wasn't supposed to be temporary. When she moved to London, Saoirse was leaving Ireland behind for good, and with it her messy, broken family. But it turns out that starting again isn't as easy as she imagined, and when her five-year relationship goes south, Saoirse finds herself out of options. And so here she is, trudging back to her mother Máire's house up a side road on the outskirts of Irish civilisation.
Except the world she comes back to is nothing like the one she left behind. Her mother has a new family, and everyone else seems to be moving on. But between the drinking, drugs, and an entirely healthy, not-problematic-at-all-thanks relationship with Charlie, there's plenty to distract her.
Don't look too closely, and everything's fine. Saoirse is just fine.
***********
After a bad break-up in London, Saoirse Maher returns home to live with her mother Máire on the outskirts of Irish civilisation. It was not a place she thought she would see again, and after five years it is very difficult to fit in with the happy family life that surrounds her mother, step-father, and three much younger half-sisters.
Máire is determined Saoirse will not be allowed the leisure of wallowing in her misery, and does her utmost to push her towards a new start, but she cannot see a future in a place she no longer recognises - even if some things have remained the same, such as her mother's distance and her father's alcoholism. Saoirse can at least pretend to be doing alright, whilst propping herself up with drink, drugs, and a less than healthy new relationship with a new man called Charlie. But pretending will only get her so far...
This cracking debut immerses you in the messy life of Saoirse with a rawness that cuts to the emotional quick. Told from Saoirse's perspective, the novel unfurls from the time of her less than triumphant return to her hometown, where she settles awkwardly into the carefully contrived life that her tightly-controlled mother has crafted around herself and her new family.
Saoirse's depressive state makes her ill-fitted to negotiate the egg-shells she continually walks on around her mother. She tries to pick up the threads of her old life, but ends up escaping into a pattern of addiction that includes embarking on a new relationship that is very far from the kind of healing partnership she needs. Soon, she is spiralling deeper into reckless behaviour, and self-destructive acts that lead her to the point of no return.
Maxwell's writing is simply wonderful, and the power of Saoirse's narrative holds you transfixed from beginning to end. Through her experiences Maxwell explores a wealth of heartfelt themes - dysfunctional families, mother and daughter relationships, the legacy of childhood trauma, love, loss, desire, addiction, shame, guilt, and so much more are all examined with incredible insight for a debut. The story free-wheels between excruciating moments of pain and alienation and nostalgic tenderness, building tension between characters stuck in a claustrophobic small town setting, and my heart took a thorough pounding as Saoirse works through an emotional journey that sees the chance of something hopeful arise from the ashes of despair.
This is one of those books that will stay with me for a long time.
Caragh Maxwell is an impressive new voice in Irish fiction, and I cannot wait to see what comes next from her!
Sugartown is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats.
Thank you to Oneworld for sending me a review copy of this book.
About the author:
Caragh Maxwell is a writer living in Sligo town. She graduated from the Trinity College MPhil in Creative Writing in 2023, and her essays, poems and stories have been published in The Irish Times, The Cormorant and other publications. Her writing focuses on the self, memory, and womanhood.
Sugartown is her debut novel, and was shortlisted for the 2025 An Post Irish Book Awards.
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