Soldier Sailor: A Novel

Summary

Named a Best Book by The Sunday Times (London), The Irish Times, The Guardian, Financial Times, The Daily Telegraph (London), The New Statesman (UK), The Irish Independent, and The Independent

An exquisite and provocative exploration of motherhood that reads with the pace of a thriller and is filled with astute and witty observations, from award-winning Irish author Claire Kilroy.

In her first novel in over a decade, Claire Kilroy takes readers deep into the early days of motherhood. Exploring the clash of fierce love with a seismic shift in identity, Kilroy conjures the raw, tumultuous emotions of a new mother, as her marriage strains and she struggles with questions of equality, autonomy, and creativity.

Soldier Sailor is a tale of boundless love and relentless battle, a mother’s bedtime story to her son, Sailor, recounting their early years together. Caught in the grip of her toddler’s seemingly endless terrible twos, Soldier doesn’t know who she is anymore. She spends her days in baby groups, playgrounds, and supermarkets. She hardly sees her husband, who has taken to working late most nights. A chance encounter with a former colleague feels like a lifeline to the person she used to be.

Tender and harrowing, Kilroy’s modern masterpiece portrays parenthood in all its agony and ardent joy.