Interlude

Three siblings. Three decades. One family story. Set across twenty years of contemporary Ireland, Interlude follows siblings Cian, Dave and Katie as they confront the choices and ruptures that shape their lives, and their family. Each decade marks a moment of crisis that forces a reckoning with who they are and what they owe one another. In 2004, sixteen-year-old Dave, a gifted pianist, is growing up in a fractured home. Reeling from his father's sudden disappearance and struggling with his sexuality, he turns to music to survive his grief. When his father's body is returned from abroad and Dave performs at the funeral, he glimpses the possibility of a more honest future. Ten years on, Cian has become a father himself, but feels trapped in an unravelling marriage and haunted by memories of his own childhood. An affair with Dave's best friend Lucy shatters his family life, while opening the door to a self he has long denied. By 2024, Katie is navigating dating apps, disordered eating and empty intimacy. When their mother reveals she is dying of cancer, the siblings are pulled back together, compelled to confront the past and reimagine what remains of their bond. Tender and incisive, Interlude is a novel about love, inheritance and the fragile ties that bind families together.