The Long, Hot Summer

A Novel

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By Kathleen MacMahon

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Nine Lives. Four Generations. One Family. The MacEntees are no ordinary family.

Determined to be different from other people, they have carved out a place for themselves in Irish life by the sheer force of their personalities.

There’s Deirdre, the aged matriarch and former star of the stage. Her estranged writer husband Manus now lives with a younger man. Their daughter Alma is an unapologetically ambitious television presenter, while Acushla plays the part of the perfect political wife. And there’s Macdara, the fragile and gentle soul of the family. Together, the MacEntees present a glamorous face to the world. But when a series of misfortunes befall them over the course of one long, hot summer, even the MacEntees will struggle to make sense of who they are.

From Kathleen MacMahon, the #1 bestselling author of This is How it Ends, comes this powerful and poignant novel, capturing a moment in the life of one family.

  • "Masterful and starkly brilliant, THE LONG, HOT SUMMER is a fierce, gorgeous work of fiction that explores the secrets, intricate passions, and heartbreak of one unforgettable family. Like other great contemporary Irish novelists, Kathleen MacMahon is a gifted storyteller, and her new novel is by turns bold, funny, wicked, unflinching, tender, wise-shot through with moments of luminous grace and a haunting revelatory power. There is a relentless sense of life within these pages. THE LONG, HOT SUMMER is one of the most thrilling novels you'll read all year."
    Dawn Tripp, bestselling author of Georgia
  • "Kathleen McMahon is a natural and incredibly talented storyteller whose rich characters, full with yearning and the heartbreak of what it is to have experienced disillusionment and grief, are in full scope in this remarkable novel of the MacEntee family; they remind us of what it is to be human and more, in the absence of those who are no longer with us, what it is to have loved."
    Thomas O'Malley, author of This Magnificent Desolation and In the Province of Saints
  • "Three generations of MacEntees explode onto the page with charm, vulnerability, and dark humor, as they struggle through a summer of unexpected trials. Reinventing themselves, refusing to be ignored, they will win your heart."
    Tracy Guzeman, author of The Gravity of Birds
  • "THE LONG, HOT SUMMER is a wholly unique multi-generational story, a darkly funny commentary on the price of fame and fortune, and a heartrending look at overcoming loss in its many forms. Add in Kathleen MacMahon's sparkling humor and lush prose, and this is a must read."
    Deborah Copaken, New York Times bestselling author of The Red Book andShutterbabe
  • "Showbiz, politics, sex and death - this gorgeously written story tackles a lot of themes, all brilliantly done."
    Sunday Mirror
  • "Breezy, perceptive, light-footed"
    Metro
  • "A book you pray never to finish."
    Irish Country Magazine
  • "The characters are so real that you become part of their lives and tragedies."
    Sainsbury's Magazine
  • "This book romps along at pace that you can't help but get caught up with."
    Irish Independent
  • Praise for THIS IS HOW IT ENDS:
    "A story of people who are easy to believe in and hard to forget."
    Maeve Binchy
  • "An unforgettable story of love and hope."
    Cecelia Ahern
  • "With great wit and humor, Kathleen MacMahon skillfully captures the nuances and complexities of relationships old and new."
    Catherine O'Flynn, author of What Was Lost

On Sale
Jul 5, 2016
Page Count
400 pages
ISBN-13
9781455511341

Kathleen MacMahon

About the Author

Kathleen MacMahon is a former radio and television journalist with Ireland’s national broadcaster, RTE. The granddaughter of the distinguished short story writer Mary Lavin, Kathleen lives in Dublin with her husband and twin daughters. This is How it Ends, her first novel, was published in 20 countries and was a #1 bestseller in Ireland.

Learn more about this author