We Are Not Ourselves

by Matthew Thomas

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SHORTLISTED FOR THE JAMES TAIT BLACK PRIZE
LONGLISTED FOR THE GUARDIAN FIRST BOOK AWARD
NOMINATED FOR THE FOLIO PRIZE
NAMED 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.

The product of a stormy upbringing in an Irish Catholic enclave of New York City, Eileen craves stability. Coming of age in the early Sixties, she meets and marries a young scientist named Edmund Leary.

But while Eileen wants more for her family, Ed won’t give up teaching for a better-paid job. Inadvertently Eileen starts to climb her own career ladder in nursing. She pushes Ed into finding a new home, but it becomes clear that his resistance is part of a deeply troubling psychological shift.

In this masterful debut, Matthew Thomas paints a sprawling, profoundly sympathetic portrait of a family coping with slow-burning tragedy. `We Are Not Ourselves’ is a grand testament to our deepest hopes and most human frailties.

  • ISBN13 9780007548224
  • Publish Date 19 August 2014
  • Publish Status Active
  • Publish Country GB
  • Publisher HarperCollins Publishers
  • Imprint Fourth Estate Ltd