The Home Scar

A spell-binding story of inherited grief and the unbreakable bond between siblings as they unpick memories of their shared past . . . [MacMahon's] characters feel authentic and relatable for all their flaws

Aingeala Flannery

Kathleen MacMahon's subject is memory itself: how we remember - and the impact upon our future lives when our memories deceive us. Compassionate and poignant, The Home Scar is a work of considerable moral power

Neil Hegarty

An intriguing, meticulous and generation-spanning story of love, loss and healing

Ed O'Loughlin

A very grown-up novel about life and love, of course, and above all, the repercussions of a disrupted childhood . . . a real tour de force

Christine Dwyer Hickey

The Home Scar once again displays Kathleen MacMahon's gimlet-eyed understanding of grown-up frailty

Hilary Fannin

An exceptional novel by one of Ireland's foremost literary talents. A book not to be missed

Anne Griffin

MacMahon writes with such beautiful simplicity, conjuring real and complex people straight off the page . . . subtle and authentic

Claire Fuller

A gorgeous story of sibling love. It reads like a psychological adventure story into memory

Louise Nealon

Such a treat . . . another stunner from Kathleen MacMahon

Henrietta McKervey

A delight - I loved every word of it

Catherine Dunne

Her beautifully simple style belies psychological complexity . . . and her tone is wryly accepting

Big Issue

[MacMahon's] exploration of connection, to each other and the ones we've lost, is . . . sensitively done and wrapped in the rich storytelling that has made her a notable name in Irish literature

RTÉ Guide

Picks at the wounds only a mother can inflict . . . ambitious . . . intricate

Sunday Independent

A powerful story about legacy and loss and the possibility of reconciliation

Irish Times

Thoughtful, understated . . . it has a quiet power

Irish Independent

Wonderful

Brendan O'Connor, RTÉ

With her usual effortless writing style and ability to make characters pop off the page, [The Home Scar] is a moving read

Woman's Way

Quiet and bleakly beautiful . . . like the siblings and Ireland, it will leave a permanent mark on those who venture into its depths

Buzz

A love story to the west of Ireland as much as it is a family mystery, this beautifully written novel will entrance anyone who has memories of childhood holidays spent in the area.

Liadán Hynes, 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

MacMahon's fourth novel ... is another eloquently written and elegantly shaped novel that lays bare those scars that many of us carry and cover.

RTÉ Guide

An understated, powerful read.

Irish Examiner

One of Ireland's finest twenty-first century writers

Margaret Madden