In Ordinary Time - Fragments of a Family History
By Carmel Mc Mahon

A multi-layered exploration of trauma, grief and addiction that will captivate readers ofand Notes to Selfand andand Small Things Like These------------In 1993, aged twenty, Carmel Mc Mahon left Ireland for New York, carrying $500, two suitcases and a ton of unseen baggage. It took years, and a bitter struggle with alcohol addiction, to unpick the intricate traumas of her past and present.Candid yet lyrical,and In Ordinary Timeand mines the ways that trauma reverberates through time and through individual lives, drawing connections to the events and rhythms of Ireland's long Celtic, early Christian and Catholic history. From tragically lost siblings to the broader social scars of the Famine and the Magdalene Laundries, Mc Mahon sketches the evolution of a consciousness - from her conservative 1970s upbringing to 1990s New York, and back to the much-changed Ireland of today.------------PRAISE FOR IN ORDINARY TIME'A vivid, evocative and resonant counterpoint of time, memory and meaning'and Joseph O' Connor, award-winning author ofand Shadowplay'Stunning... Truth and honesty shine out of every line'and Mary Costello, author ofand Academy Street'Painfully familiar in its account of family loss and trauma in the urban working class... Sensitively written and quietly devastating, it's the book I had been waiting for'and Niamh Campbell, award-winning author ofand This Happy'Beautiful, compelling, thought-provoking... An uncompromising reflection on what it means to be of Irish heritage today'and Tara Flynn'Absolutely gripping…'and Martine Evans,and The Irish Times'The peace I discovered reading In Ordinary Time came from the reminder that the cycles we're all in can be broken, and they can also be repaired'and Maeve Higgins,and Irish Examiner Brilliant. Beautifully written. Heartfelt, engrossing and hugely insightful'and Sue Leonard,and Irish Examiner'A beautifully crafted memoir which left me wanting more'and The Gloss Magazine'A raw, urgent book… it traces love, loss and all else. An extraordinary debut'and RTÉ'A beautiful memoir'and Ryan Tubridy, RTÉ Radio 1A multi-layered exploration of trauma, grief and addiction that will captivate readers ofand Notes to Selfand andand Small Things Like These------------In 1993, aged twenty, Carmel Mc Mahon left Ireland for New York, carrying $500, two suitcases and a ton of unseen baggage. It took years, and a bitter struggle with alcohol addiction, to unpick the intricate traumas of her past and present.Candid yet lyrical,and In Ordinary Timeand mines the ways that trauma reverberates through time and through individual lives, drawing connections to the events and rhythms of Ireland's long Celtic, early Christian and Catholic history. From tragically lost siblings to the broader social scars of the Famine and the Magdalene Laundries, Mc Mahon sketches the evolution of a consciousness - from her conservative 1970s upbringing to 1990s New York, and back to the much-changed Ireland of today.------------PRAISE FOR IN ORDINARY TIME'A vivid, evocative and resonant counterpoint of time, memory and meaning'and Joseph O' Connor, award-winning author ofand Shadowplay'Stunning... Truth and honesty shine out of every line'and Mary Costello, author ofand Academy Street'Painfully familiar in its account of family loss and trauma in the urban working class... Sensitively written and quietly devastating, it's the book I had been waiting for'and Niamh Campbell, award-winning author ofand This Happy'Beautiful, compelling, thought-provoking... An uncompromising reflection on what it means to be of Irish heritage today'and Tara Flynn'Absolutely gripping…'and Martine Evans,and The Irish Times'The peace I discovered reading In Ordinary Time came from the reminder that the cycles we're all in can be broken, and they can also be repaired'and Maeve Higgins,and Irish Examiner Brilliant. Beautifully written. Heartfelt, engrossing and hugely insightful'and Sue Leonard,and Irish Examiner'A beautifully crafted memoir which left me wanting more'and The Gloss Magazine'A raw, urgent book… it traces love, loss and all else. An extraordinary debut'and RTÉ'A beautiful memoir'and Ryan Tubridy, RTÉ Radio 1