The Blamed

'Insightful and astute writing ... Emily Hourican has a wonderful understanding of human nature' Louise O'Neill

The summer she turned twenty-five, Anna felt invincible.

In love for the first time, in a strange city far from home, she could be a new person. All that she had ever wanted was there for the taking. But the glorious possibility of those long sultry days ended in a reality far starker than she could have imagined.

Now, fifteen years later, Anna is struggling to get through to her teenage daughter Jessie -- named in memory of Anna's best friend -- who has developed an eating disorder. Mother and daughter were once close, but now Anna feels as if Jessie's every word and action is a mystery. Though sometimes she wonders if Jessie can see right through her.

And when her daughter starts to report dreams about the namesake she never met, Anna -- increasingly unnerved by just how much her daughter seems to know -- is forced to face the secrets of that summer when her life changed in one unravelling moment, and the brutal truth about the part she had to play.

“Skilful, evocative and moving ... This is one of those books that stays with you after you've read it-- Sinead Moriarty”

Skilful, evocative and moving ... This is one of those books that stays with you after you've read it - Sinead Moriarty

Part psychological thriller, part literary family drama, part sun-soaked nostalgic noir and a must-read - Sunday Independent

Praise for Emily Hourican - :

[A] lively and entertaining saga of friendship, family and fate - Sunday Independent

[Hourican] has perfected the high-wire feat between lush description and keeping the plot shuttling along at a pleasing pace ... As with most great writing, The Privileged packs plenty of truth and social commentary beneath its story - Irish Independent

You won't be able to put it down - Stellar magazine

Vibrant characters, finely-observed social backdrops and universal themes of love, friendship and survival ... The Privileged is well-written, thoughtful commercial fiction that tells a compelling story ... A Circle of Friends for the 21st century - Irish Times

Emily Hourican is the author of nine novels and one book of non-fiction. Her first novel, The Privileged, was published in 2016, became an instant bestseller, and was

short-listed for the Best Popular Fiction Award at the Irish Book Awards that year. She then published three more works of contemporary fiction, the last of which, The Outsider, is being

developed as a six-part TV series with Treasure Films, with Emily as screenwriter, supported by Screen Ireland.

In 2019 she began writing historical fiction, and has since published four acclaimed, best-selling historical novels based on the Guinness and Kennedy families. The fifth, A Kennedy

Affair, will be published in October 2024.

Emily is also an award-winning editor and journalist with the Sunday Independent,

Ireland's biggest-selling newspaper.

' Insightful and astute writing ... Emily Hourican has a wonderful understanding of human nature' Louise O'Neill The summer she turned twenty-five, Anna felt invincible.In love for the first time, in a strange city far from home, she could be a new person. All that she had ever wanted was there for the taking. But the glorious possibility of those long sultry days ended in a reality far starker than she could have imagined.Now, fifteen years later, Anna is struggling to get through to her teenage daughter Jessie -- named in memory of Anna's best friend -- who has developed an eating disorder. Mother and daughter were once close, but now Anna feels as if Jessie's every word and action is a mystery. Though sometimes she wonders if Jessie can see right through her.And when her daughter starts to report dreams about the namesake she never met, Anna -- increasingly unnerved by just how much her daughter seems to know -- is forced to face the secrets of that summer when her life changed in one unravelling moment, and the brutal truth about the part she had to play.

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