“Aghybogey was a town in which there was nowhere to hide, so people hid stuff in plain sight.”
“Sensational debut” – Publishers Weekly - starred review
”Majella is a compelling character caught in a fascinating slice of time, and her journey is exquisitely rendered.” – Library Journal - starred review
“Majella is a nuanced and complicated heroine, reliant on routines and largely dismissive of change. Infused with local diction, inflection, and slang, her voice envelops readers in the sounds of small-town Ireland.” - Booklist (print edition) - starred review
“An irreverent portrait of small-town Northern Ireland that is both bleakly and uproariously funny.” – Kirkus Reviews
“…a working-class setting seldom depicted on either side of the pond, an atmosphere of sweat, grease, and labor, of Friday night pubs and Saturday hangovers, of people bursting with shattered dreams and electric intelligence.” Indie Next Pick Dec 2020
“Big Girl, Small Town illuminates an enigmatic, violent social ecosystem. When have I read a tougher, more tender protagonist for the ages than Majella? She is an apt, heartbreaking guide through this fierce, raw, unignorable debut.” – Marie-Helene Bertino (author of Parakeet)
“Utterly brilliant and deliciously hilarious!” - Christy Lefteri (author of The Beekeeper of Aleppo)
The Big Girl, Small Town Audiobook
Narrated by Nicola Coughlan (Derry Girls)
Libro.fm (USA)
Audible (USA)
Audible (UK & Ireland)
“Milkman meets Derry Girls. A cracking read“
– Sinéad Moriarty
A thrillingly fresh, provocative and touching voice’
– Marian Keyes
Bawdy yet beautiful, full of everyday tragedy, absurdity and truth. I grew extraordinarily attached to Majella’
– Sara Baume
“Majella didn’t understand all this pseudo-secrecy, the stories people told. She liked things straight. “
- Big Girl, Small Town
Big Girl, Small Town
“A darkly hilarious novel about small-town life, which manages to be wildly entertaining despite being mostly set in a chip shop – a fine place in which to loiter with such a filthy, funny, clever companion” - The Guardian
“A winning evocation of a small Irish community whose people burst from its pages. Engaging and satisfying” - The Daily Mail
“Big Girl, Small Town is even funnier than Derry Girls, while being just as fraught as Anna Burns’s Booker Prize winner.” - Sunday Independent
“Captivating . . . a confident debut with a very memorable protagonist in Majella.” - The Irish Times
