We Are Not Ourselves

Author: Thomas, Matthew

Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)

Published on 5 March 2015 by HarperCollins Publishers (Fourth Estate Ltd) in the United Kingdom.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE JAMES TAIT BLACK PRIZELONGLISTED FOR THE GUARDIAN FIRST BOOK AWARDNOMINATED FOR THE FOLIO PRIZENAMED A NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES

A stunning, heartbreaking debut – ‘We Are Not Ourselves’ is both the intimate story of a family and an epic of the American Century.

Eileen Leary wants more. Raised in a downtrodden area of new York by hard-drinking, Irish immigrant parents, she dreams of another life: a better job, a bigger house, more respectable friends, a happy family. When she meets Ed Leary, a brilliant young scientist, she thinks she’s found the perfect partner to pursue and share her American Dream with. An indefatigable love enters Eileen’s life – but so too does a pervasive darkness and a loss that will last a lifetime.