The Women Behind the Door

‘A brilliant, one-of-a-kind writer’ DAVID NICHOLLS At sixty-six, Paula Spencer – mother, grandmother, widow, survivor – is finally living her life. A job at the dry cleaners she enjoys, a man – Joe – with whom she shares what she wants, friends who see her for who she is, and four grown children. Despite its ghosts, Paula has started to push her past aside. That is until Paula’s eldest, Nicola, turns up on her doorstep. Independent, a loving wife and mother, “a success” – Nicola is suddenly determined to leave it all behind. Over the next few days, as Nicola gradually confides in Paula the secret that unleashed this moment of crisis, they find themselves embracing the bruised but beautiful symmetry of what each means to the other. ‘His best yet…full of energy and life’ OBSERVER ‘Reading [Paula Spencer’s] voice for the first time sent a pang of recognition through me, followed by love’ ANNE ENRIGHT ‘Storytelling genius’ i PAPER A GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE YEAR SHORTLISTED FOR THE IRISH BOOK AWARDS NOVEL OF THE YEAR 2024

‘A brilliant, one-of-a-kind writer’ DAVID NICHOLLS At sixty-six, Paula Spencer – mother, grandmother, widow, survivor – is finally living her life. A job at the dry cleaners she enjoys, a man – Joe – with whom she shares what she wants, friends who see her for who she is, and four grown children. Despite its ghosts, Paula has started to push her past aside. That is until Paula’s eldest, Nicola, turns up on her doorstep. Independent, a loving wife and mother, “a success” – Nicola is suddenly determined to leave it all behind. Over the next few days, as Nicola gradually confides in Paula the secret that unleashed this moment of crisis, they find themselves embracing the bruised but beautiful symmetry of what each means to the other. ‘His best yet…full of energy and life’ OBSERVER ‘Reading [Paula Spencer’s] voice for the first time sent a pang of recognition through me, followed by love’ ANNE ENRIGHT ‘Storytelling genius’ i PAPER A GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE YEAR SHORTLISTED FOR THE IRISH BOOK AWARDS NOVEL OF THE YEAR 2024

‘The undisputed laureate of ordinary lives’ SUNDAY TIMES ‘A brilliant, one-of-a-kind writer’ DAVID NICHOLLS * * * At sixty-six, Paula Spencer – mother, grandmother, widow, survivor – is finally living her life. A job at the dry cleaners she enjoys, a man – Joe – with whom she shares what she wants, friends who see her for who she is, and four grown children. Despite its ghosts, Paula has started to push her past aside. That is until Paula’s eldest, Nicola, turns up on her doorstep. Independent, a loving wife and mother, “a success” – Nicola is suddenly determined to leave it all behind. Over the next few days, as Nicola gradually confides in Paula the secret that unleashed this moment of crisis, mother and daughter find themselves untangling anecdotes, jokes, memory and revelation to confront the bruised but beautiful symmetry of what each means to the other. * * * ‘His best yet…full of energy and life’ OBSERVER ‘Reading [Paula Spencer’s] voice for the first time sent a pang of recognition through me, followed by love’ ANNE ENRIGHT ‘Storytelling genius’ i NEWS SHORTLISTED FOR THE IRISH BOOK AWARDS NOVEL OF THE YEAR 2024 **A GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE YEAR**