Roisin Maguire – författare

SHORTLISTED FOR THE KATE O'BRIEN AWARDOVER 20,000 COPIES SOLD'Heaven' Katherine May, bestselling author of Wintering 'A glowing, generous novel' Irish Times'A warm, unsentimental and beautifully observed book for our times' Lucy Caldwell, author of These Days'Grace is a fabulous character ... there's a touch of Olive Kitteridge in her' Good HousekeepingGrace lives alone in a coastal village in Northern Ireland, filling her days with wild swimming, fishing, quilting and baiting the tourists who blow in from the city. One of the visitors is Evan, on an enforced holiday from his family in Belfast as he grieves the death of his infant daughter. But before a week is out, he is trapped there by lockdown. When Grace grudgingly saves Evan from drowning, and his reserved young son arrives unexpectedly, all three are startled into a reckoning with their past and a reconnection with the outside world.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE KATE O'BRIEN AWARD 'Beautifully written, full of wisdom and wonderful secondary characters. I loved it' Daily Mail'A glowing, generous novel' Irish Times'A warm, unsentimental and beautifully-observed book for our times' Lucy Caldwell, author of These DaysGrace lives alone in Ballybrady, a little village on the sublimely beautiful east coast of Northern Ireland. She fills her days with swimming, fishing, quilting, and baiting the tourists who arrive from the city with more money than sense. She hasn't left the village since a traumatic stay in London as a young woman at the end of the 1980s.One of the tourists is Evan, taking an enforced holiday from his family and work in Belfast after breaking down after the death of his daughter in infancy. He has come to try to process his grief and make himself desirable again as a husband, a father and a business partner.But he hasn't been there a week until he gets trapped by lockdown. When Grace saves his life in a kayaking accident - if it was an accident - and Evan's troubled son arrives to stay, all three are drawn together in a way that forces a reckoning with their personal traumas and draws them back into society.This is a moving and funny debut novel set in a quirky coastal community you will be desperate to visit after reading. It will appeal to readers of Elizabeth Strout, Maggie O'Farrell and Alice Munro.

'Grace is a force of nature - it's impossible not to be swept up in admiration for her' LUCY CALDWELL, author of These Days'Fantastic hero ... Grace is a fabulous character' GOOD HOUSEKEEPINGStanding on the edge of the icy Irish sea, the village of Ballybrady typically has a warm embrace for locals and a cold shoulder for outsiders. So when corporate interests threaten the nearby island colony of rare birds, all-weather swimmer Grace - usually so keen to do things on her own - is alarmed to find that her allies in the fight are the Duckie Divers Swimming Club, a raft of city women with expensive gear and good intentions. Grace reluctantly joins forces with the Duckies to mount an audacious fundraising event that will draw in villagers and city folk alike. As she teaches them the art of the cold swim, she finds herself softening in their company, learning that each woman has her own powerful reason to commit to their cause. Irreverent and irrepressible like Grace herself, Snow Birds is a delightful celebration of found family, unlikely friendship and the thrill of open water.