The home scar

“MacMahon writes with such beautiful simplicity, conjuring real and complex people straight off the page … subtle and authentic” – Claire Fuller

On opposite sides of the world, half-siblings Cassie and Christo have built their lives around work, intent on ignoring their painful past.

When a dramatic storm in Galway hits the headlines, they’re drawn back there to revisit a glorious childhood summer, the last before their mother died. But their journey uncovers memories of a far less happy summer – one that had tragic consequences.

Confronted with the havoc their mother left in her wake, Cassie and Christo are forced to face their past and – ready or not – to deal with the messy tangle of parental love and neglect that shaped them.

The Home Scar is a luminous and precise story about the inheritance of loss and the possibility of finally making peace with it.
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“Her beautifully simple style belies psychological complexity … and her tone is wryly accepting” – Big Issue

“Quiet and bleakly beautiful … like the siblings and Ireland, it will leave a permanent mark on those who venture into its depths” – Buzz

“Picks at the wounds only a mother can inflict … ambitious … intricate” – Sunday Independent

“An exceptional novel about a brother and sister returning to the west of Ireland and to a summer of their past.” – Anne Griffin, Sunday Independent

“A powerful story about legacy and loss and the possibility of reconciliation” – Irish Times