Common Decency: A dark, intimate novel of love, grief and obsession

FROM THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED AUTHOR OF TENNIS LESSONS

'Susannah Dickey is a phenomenal talent and I loved this novel.' ELIZABETH DAY

'[A] treat . . . vividly compelling . . . a rare talent, and certainly one to watch' SUNDAY TIMES

'I loved Common Decency . . . a surprising, clever, sad and strange book . . . such a propulsive joy to read too.' MEGAN NOLAN


In an apartment building in Belfast, two women wrestle with the sorrows and spectres of love and loss.

Since her mother's death, Lily has withdrawn from the world, trapped between grief and anger. She has to break out of this damaging cycle - but how?

Upstairs, Siobhan is consumed by her affair with a married man. Her days revolve around his sporadic texts and rare visits. She barely notices the strange girl who lives below and dawdles in the foyer.

But Lily is keeping a close eye on her neighbour, whose life seems so much better and more fulfilling than her own. When resentment evolves into something darker and more urgent, she decides to teach Siobhan a lesson...

From the critically acclaimed author of Tennis Lessons comes a darkly powerful novel about two lives running closely in parallel but divided by gulfs of misunderstanding. With boundless wisdom and deep empathy, Dickey charts the anonymity and hidden intimacies of modern existence, and our profound human need to connect.

'Sharp as tacks, extremely funny and deeply moving. This novel is very good company.' JAN CARSON

PRAISE FOR SUSANNAH DICKEY

'I loved Tennis Lessons so much. Susannah is a phenomenally talented writer' ELIZABETH DAY

'A raw, fierce, shockingly honest coming-of-age story' LOUISE O'NEILL

'Incredibly funny . . . by turns charming and disgusting and I loved it' NELL FRIZZELL

'Brilliant . . . a wonderful writer, hugely talented, very funny and insightful' ALAN DAVIES

'Propulsive . . . brilliantly vivid . . . stays in the mind long after reading' IRISH TIMES

'A beautifully written and psychologically incisive bildungsroman...the arrival of a young writer to watch' OBSERVER