THE IMMERSIVE AND HEARTFELT EXPLORATION OF FAMILY AND LOVE

'A beautiful bittersweet story of love, loss and families. Tears were shed!' GRAHAM NORTON
'A moving and powerful novel' JOHN BOYNE
'Human, graceful and healing, a true gift of a novel' SEBASTIAN BARRY
'A beautiful story' SARAH WINMAN
'Lyrical, optimistic and redemptive' CLARE CHAMBERS
'Just loved it . . . so moving on motherhood, depression, family ties and Ireland' ANNIE MACMANUS
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On an island off the west coast of Ireland, the Moone family gathers.

Maeve is an actor, struggling with her most challenging role yet - as a mother to four children. Murtagh, her devoted husband, is a potter whose craft brought them from the city to this rural life.

In the wake of one fateful night, the Moone siblings must learn the story of who their parents truly are, and what has happened since their first meeting, years before, outside Trinity College in Dublin.

We watch as one love story gives rise to another, until we arrive at a future that none of the Moones could have predicted.

Except perhaps Maeve herself.

The Truth Must Dazzle Gradually is a celebration of the complex, flawed and stubbornly optimistic human heart.
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Longlisted for the Guardian's 'Not The Booker' prize

PRAISE FOR THE TRUTH MUST DAZZLE GRADUALLY:

'I devoured this, falling in love with the setting and with every character. It is just glorious. A close-up on the everyday beautiful details that make up love' Emma Flint, author of Little Deaths

'Intensely moving, beautifully written and drenched with Irish atmosphere, this novel asks brave and thoughtful questions about mental health' Daily Mail

'Loved it. Beautiful and original' Sunday Independent

'Cullen is a thoughtful writer and she dissects the stubborn optimism of the human heart with skill and sympathy' Irish Independent

'A perfect combination of deeply-felt tragedy with great hopefulness' Anne Youngson, author of Meet me at the Museum

'Masterfully constructed. A book of rare quality' i Paper

'A beautifully observed saga of abandoned dreams, loss and self-discovery. A fabulous creation' Alan McGonagle, author of Ithaca

'So wonderful on the Irish family and the utter complexity of motherhood, family entanglement and love. I was full on weeping at the end' Elaine Feeney, author of As You Were

"We are seduced by the story of the star-crossed lovers" - Sunday Times

"Cullen's quietly devastating second novel is both a family saga and a careful exploration of the reality of living with mental health issues " - i paper

"Intensely moving, beautifully written and drenched with Irish atmosphere, this novel asks brave and thoughtful questions about mental health" - Daily Mail

"An honest meditation on love and motherhood - this is a story of the confessions that aren't easily made; the secret hopes and desires that can feel too complicated or painful to express. Cullen is a thoughtful writer and she dissects the stubborn optimism of the human heart with skill and sympathy" - Irish Independent

"Precise, haunting and, above all, beautiful . . . has the twin ability to inspire you to take delight in the world, yet also cry with the pain that unfolds in its pages . . . a book of rare quality" - i magazine

"Loved it. Beautiful and original" - Sunday Independent

"This will touch your soul" - Sainsbury's Magazine

"Cullen's atmospheric novel captures beautifully the continuity of life even at times of deepest grief. If we avoid tragedy in literature, we're closing ourselves off to some of the most powerful and moving writing, as exemplified by Helen Cullen's second novel which deals delicately and humanely with the subjects of mental health and the ravaging effects of grief" - Business Post

"An Irish novel moves from a family's joy to tragedy and back in this poignant yet hopeful novel spanning the late 1970s to 2015" - Shelf Awareness

"Cullen's lyrical prose drives the immersive and heart-wrenching narrative. This complex study of depression and its impact on family dynamics will lure readers" - Publishers Weekly

"Love is here in spades... clear a weekend for this gorgeous read" - Library Journal (starred review)

"Praise for Helen Cullen " - -

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If you liked Harold Fry and Me Before You, you will love Cullen's nostalgic debut. This life-affirming book will draw you in and keep you there

"Delightful" - Sunday Times

"Deeply moving" - Irish Times

"This will touch your soul" - Sainsbury's Magazine

"Cullen's writing is precise, haunting and, above all, beautiful . . . has the twin ability to inspire you to take delight in the world, yet also cry with the pain that unfolds in its pages" - i

"Deals delicately and humanely with the subjects of mental health and the ravaging effects of grief . . . ultimately a hopeful read that lives long in the memory" - Business Post

"Cullen's quietly devastating novel is both a family saga and a careful exploration of the realities of living with mental health issues" - i

"A thoroughly moving and frequently funny story of love and compassion" - The New European