Constellations

I have come to think of all the metal in my body as artificial stars, glistening beneath the skin, a constellation of old and new metal. A map, a tracing of connections and a guide to looking at things from different angles.

How do you tell the story of life that is no one thing?

How do you tell the story of a life in a body, as it goes through sickness, health, motherhood? And how do you tell that story when you are not just a woman but a woman in Ireland?

In these powerful and daring essays Sinéad Gleeson does that very thing. In doing so she delves into a range of subjects: art, illness, ghosts, grief and our very ways of seeing.

In writing that is in tradition of some of our finest writers such as Olivia Laing, Maggie O’Farrell and Maggie Nelson, and yet still in her own spirited, warm voice, Sinéad takes us on a journey that is both personal and yet universal in its resonance.

'Utterly magnificent. Raw, thought-provoking and galvanising; this is a book every woman should read.' Eimear McBride, author of A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing.

'Breathtaking and sublime.' Nina Stibb.

'Absolutely extraordinary and life-enhancing.' Daisy Buchanan, author of How to be Grown-up.