Sharp, sudden, mischievous, sublime--this is a dazzling novel; a glorious multi-generational novel of tangled relationships, secrets, bodies, sex. Nell must be one of the best young women I've read in recent Irish fiction.--Lucy Caldwell, author of These Days

The Wren, The Wren is a magnificent novel. Anne Enright's stylistic brilliance seems to put the reader directly in touch with her characters and the rich territory of their lives.--Sally Rooney, author of Beautiful World, Where Are You

The power of Enright's novel derives not so much from the age-old tale of men behaving badly, but from the beauty and depth of her own style. She's so deft at rendering arresting insights into personality types or situations.--Maureen Corrigan "NPR"

Gritty, sad, sly, riotous...[Enright's] gem-packed language fizzes like a sidewalk firecracker.--Margaret Atwood via Twitter

The whip-smart latest from Booker winner Enright...fizzes with wit and bite. Enright's discomfiting and glimmering narrative leans toward a poetic sense of hope.-- "Publishers Weekly (starred review)"

This is a powerful, thoughtful book by one of the great living writers on the subject of family. Speaking about love in terms both domestic and transcendent, Enright coos through newly connected wires.-- "New York Times"

[Enright's] poems have a language of their own that transcends time. Like the novel itself, they sing with grace and beauty and hard-hitting truth.-- "Washington Post"

An unstinting celebration of beauty. One of Ms. Enright's remarkable feats is to write believably across three generations, capturing epochal differences but also a buried, or even repressed, continuity.-- "Wall Street Journal"

These pages practically crackle with intelligence, compassion, and wit. Phil McDaragh is so real I almost googled him. The Wren, The Wren might just be Anne Enright's best yet.--Louise Kennedy, author of Trespasses

The exceptional, multigarlanded Irish writer returns with a three-generation, woman-centered family portrait marked by 'inheritance, of both trauma and of wonder, ' and melodious, poetic echoes. Lyrical poems of birds punctuate the text, as do snatches of cruelty and violence between men and women, sisters, men and animals, even parents and children. But the familial connections are indelible and enduring. Tender and truthful as ever, Enright offers a beguiling journey to selfhood.-- "Kirkus Reviews (starred review)"

To call Anne Enright's new novel a moving, nuanced glimpse at three generations of Irish life underplays its thrilling expansiveness: in the end, The Wren, The Wren is an electrifying romp through language itself--its dizzying possibilities and satisfactions--led by one the most gifted writers working in English today.--Jennifer Egan, author of The Candy House

Enriched by searing if beautiful poetry, Enright's beseeching novel thrums with desire, heartache, and connection.-- "Booklist (starred review)"

Anne Enright has long been one of my influences, way back to when I was more a reader than a writer, and these days I regularly find myself returning to her work when I'm teaching fiction workshops. I absolutely loved The Wren, The Wren. What an utterly wonderful novel! It got into my very bones. It's magnificent. Proof once again that Anne can do things with sentences that nobody else can!--Danielle McLaughlin, author of The Art of Falling

A book of musical tenderness and devastating precision, The Wren, The Wren makes its own weather -- whilst reading, your heart will work to Enright's beat.--Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Dance Tree

Art as an illusion, love as a trap, the stranglehold of family ties: these are themes that Enright has already made her own. They are not just reprised here but honed to an essential honesty. Line for line, no one is more skilled than Enright at unfolding an unsettling scene. The Wren, The Wren is ruthless, raw stuff.-- "The Guardian"

The Wren, The Wren shows that her achievements continue apace: it may be her best book yet. Not only a triumph but a joy.-- "Irish Culture Times"

A whirlwind of a novel.-- "Irish Independent"

An unforgettable read.-- "Sunday Independent"

One of the best novelists of her generation . . . I have no hesitation whatsoever in recommending this book.-- "RTE Radio 1"

Achingly beautiful.-- "BookPage (starred review)"

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Pub date: 2023-09-19

Length: 288 pages