Coast Road: A Novel

Winner of the Irish Book Awards Newcomer of the Year 2024

Shortlisted for the John McGahern Annual Book Prize

A poignant debut novel 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 womens freedom, individuality, and self-expression are stifled by religion, custom, and gossip.The New Yorker

A painful, gorgeous debut.Elle

Set in 1994, The Coast Road tells the story of two womenIzzy 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 friendship that develops between them will ultimately lead to tragedy for one, and freedom for the other.

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