Danielle McLaughlin

Over and over, what the author offers up are intense explorations of largely rural-set relationships in silent turmoil: couples and families living in desperate denial of the chasms that have opened up and are threatening to destroy their surface tranquillities, to drag them asunder. ... That the tensile quality of the writing can be sustained across the span of these 11 stories is a testament to the author’s devotion to craft and to an obvious flair for the musicality of language. What’s here are controlled notes, meticulous melodies. ... This is a remarkable first collection from a distinctive and extremely gifted writer on the brink of major recognition.

BILLY O'CALLAGHAN
The Irish Examiner

The author’s way with endings stands out. Her stories will startle readers with their closing imagery and insights. Nature features prominently as a way to symbolise despair and loss... These are characters who wonder how their stories have gone so wrong, who want to leave their lives “like a balloon leaves a fairground”. As they stumble in the darkness, McLaughlin tempts the reader to seek answers with her intelligent and beautiful prose.

SARAH GILMARTIN
The Irish Times

The first step to a good short story is that it can be read in one uninterrupted sitting. The second is that it knows and respects the rules of conventional story telling. And the third, and most important, is that it knows exactly when to break these rules. Cork writer Danielle McLaughlin has mastered these steps ... McLaughlin's writing is so captivating and visual that you are instantly in the story from the first paragraph. She knows just the right amount of information to give, almost frustrating us with the unknowns, but providing enough suggestions and clues to keep us going ... McLaughlin conveys so much with so little.

SOPHIE GORMAN
The Irish Independent