"MacMahon writes with such beautiful simplicity, conjuring real and complex people straight off the page ... subtle and authentic" - Claire Fuller

On opposite sides of the world, half-siblings Cassie and Christo have built their lives around work, intent on ignoring their painful past.

When a dramatic storm in Galway hits the headlines, they're drawn back there to revisit a glorious childhood summer, the last before their mother died. But their journey uncovers memories of a far less happy summer - one that had tragic consequences.

Confronted with the havoc their mother left in her wake, Cassie and Christo are forced to face their past and - ready or not - to deal with the messy tangle of parental love and neglect that shaped them.

The Home Scar is a luminous and precise story about the inheritance of loss and the possibility of finally making peace with it.
_________

"Her beautifully simple style belies psychological complexity ... and her tone is wryly accepting" - Big Issue

"Quiet and bleakly beautiful ... like the siblings and Ireland, it will leave a permanent mark on those who venture into its depths" - Buzz

"Picks at the wounds only a mother can inflict ... ambitious ... intricate" - Sunday Independent

"An exceptional novel about a brother and sister returning to the west of Ireland and to a summer of their past." - Anne Griffin, Sunday Independent

"A powerful story about legacy and loss and the possibility of reconciliation" - Irish Times

"A powerful story about legacy and loss and the possibility of reconciliation" - Irish Times

"Her beautifully simple style belies psychological complexity . . . and her tone is wryly accepting" - Big Issue

"Quiet and bleakly beautiful . . . like the siblings and Ireland, it will leave a permanent mark on those who venture into its depths" - Buzz

"Picks at the wounds only a mother can inflict . . . ambitious . . . intricate" - Sunday Independent

"An exceptional novel about a brother and sister returning to the west of Ireland and to a summer of their past." - Sunday Independent

"Thoughtful, understated . . . it has a quiet power" - Irish Independent

"Wonderful" - RTÉ

"With her usual effortless writing style and ability to make characters pop off the page, [The Home Scar] is a moving read" - Woman's Way

"An understated, powerful read." - Irish Examiner

"[MacMahon's] exploration of connection, to each other and the ones we've lost, is . . . sensitively done and wrapped in the rich storytelling that has made her a notable name in Irish literature" - RTÉ Guide

"A love story to the west of Ireland as much as it is a family mystery, this beautifully written novel will entrance anyone who has memories of childhood holidays spent in the area." - Sunday Independent

"MacMahon's fourth novel ... is another eloquently written and elegantly shaped novel that lays bare those scars that many of us carry and cover." - RTÉ Guide

"One of Ireland's finest twenty-first century writers" - Margaret Madden