In this book club episode, Róisín, Ann Ingle, Bernice Harrison and Niamh Towey discuss Acts of Desperation, the debut novel from Waterford writer Megan Nolan. The book focuses on a turbulent relationship between the unnamed narrator and the “exceptionally beautiful” Ciaran, a half-Danish poet. Their intense love affair begins at a gallery launch, with our narrator pondering “Is it possible to love someone without knowing them, by sight?”. However, their infatuation spirals quickly downhill and the reader is brought into the darkest depths of their dysfunction. It’s an exploration of early adult life, and as one of our book clubbers puts it “what it is to be a young woman in all its various different guises”. As to be expected, it’s a lively discussion with differing viewpoints, some minor disagreements and the odd expletive. If you’d like to listen back to our episode with the author Megan Nolan, you can find it here: https://soundcloud.com/irishtimes-women/ep-483-megan-nolan-acts-of-desperation Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.