Pure Gold

On an island off Ireland’s west coast strange things are afoot: two teenage boys set fires while their worlds fall apart, a couple drive out to the hills in a last-ditch effort to save their marriage, a widow seeks a stranger’s help to bury her grief and a horse crashes a house party. Adrift in the treacherous waters of small-town boredom, the residents reach out with love and cruelty, desperation and hope, in their pursuit of connection.

Pure Gold is a bitterly funny, surprising and profoundly moving short story collection that crackles with the thrilling energy of a bold new literary voice, John Patrick McHugh.

‘Full of stylish brio’ Colin Barrett, author of Young Skins

‘Hilarious, shocking, and disturbingly well-observed’ Vanity Fair

‘Searing … John Patrick McHugh joins an illustrious generation of talented writers’ Irish Times

‘Savagely funny’ Nicole Flattery, author of Show Them a Good Time

‘Refreshing and ambitious’ Lisa McInerney, author of The Blood Miracles