Confessions

Brilliantly conceived and magnificently executed, I truly could not put it down. I haven’t come across as honest, truthful, compelling, and gripping a writer for decades. The work of a debut novelist that feels like the work of a seasoned and highly accomplished author

Anna Fitzgerald, author of GIRL IN THE MAKING

Confessions is a remarkable debut. A complex and compulsive read that unravels the intricate twists and revelations among three generations of women with elegance and urgency

Miranda Cowley Heller, author of THE PAPER PALACE

Confessions is a tender and bitingly original work that effortlessly weaves the parochial weight of Irish family history with the mendacious allure of Manhattan's seedy streets. Catherine Airey reads like a natural successor to Maeve Brennan, a chronicler of the pain and peril of self-determination.

Darragh McKeon, award-winning author of REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY

Exciting, expansive and transporting storytelling. It's hard to believe CONFESSIONS is a debut novel

Roxy Dunn, author of AS YOUNG IS THIS

Confessions is a remarkable debut. With fearless ambition and phenomenal poise, Catherine Airey weaves an intricate and far-reaching tale that is both compelling and heart-breaking

Ben Hinshaw, author of EXACTLY WHAT YOU MEAN

I was mesmerized from the very first pages of Catherine Airey's startling debut, Confessions. The story of Maire and Roisin, two Irish sisters living an ocean apart, proceeds with an almost hypnotic power and grace - it has the certainty of fable and the true originality of a powerful new voice in fiction.

Tara Conklin, New York Times bestselling author of THE LAST ROMANTICS

One of 2025’s most exciting literary debuts

Service 95

An absolute triumph

Bookseller

Catherine Airey’s CONFESSIONS is a wonderfully moreish feast of family drama, flowing prose, and psychologically compelling characters. I devoured this remarkable debut that charts the lives of three generations of women and their intense, interior lives. Gracefully plotted with sentences that glide along, it’s a book that rollercoasters with secrets and revelations, exploring love and desire; longing and belonging. Airey’s novel has the complex yet deeply human undertones and poetry of Anne Enright combined with the effortless flow and vim of Louise Kennedy. I absolutely adored this novel and will be reading all future books by this immensely talented author.

Rupert Dastur, author of CLOUDLESS

CONFESSIONS is a beating heart of a novel, intricate both in its weaving and its unspooling. An irresistible read

Yael van der Wouden, author of THE SAFEKEEP

[A] bold and intricate debut. . . Airey crafts a sharp psychological sketch of each woman as they contend with their parallel crises, adding nuance and depth without shying away from making a strong statement for reproductive rights. Readers will be eager to see what Airey does next

Publishers Weekly

An intricately woven epic, Confessions is both intimate and expansive, a novel that teems with raw, hungry life

Colin Walsh, author of KALA

An ambitious debut

Sunday Times, Books to look forward to in 2025

Propulsive and utterly captivating … Airey has shades of the American novelists Donna Tartt and Jeffrey Eugenides in her style

Irish Times

Three generations’ worth of secrets unravel in this magnificent debut

iPaper, Books to read in 2025

A complex, assured novel that explores how the past inescapably shapes the present

Financial Times, What to Read in 2025

Confessions certainly hails the arrival of a new literary talent. She has a beautiful turn of phrase, enormous compassion for her characters and is not afraid to dig into themes both big and small – of legacy and belonging, mental illness, bodily autonomy and the long, messy tail of grief in all its forms… Confessions really excels.

iPaper

The beautifully written narrative goes on to reveal the secrets of three generations of women. It’s an epic family saga involving a host of mysteries and I galloped to the end. I loved it.

Daily Mail

[An] impressive debut...Airey has taken flight with a well-written, engaging first novel.

Independent, Book of the Month

This ambitious novel, the subject of a fierce bidding war, is sure to show up on award shortlists

RED

It’s hard to believe this is a debut…Stunning writing, strong characters… An astounding read

Prima, Book of the Month

An extraordinary debut novel by Airey, who's bound to be a household name very soon

Radio Times

An ambitious and beautifully crafted novel … Airey deftly weaves between voices and settings, spooling a family saga of secrets, loss and trauma

Hot Press

A saga: its serious pleasures are its expansiveness and range, and Airey’s rare, particular instinct... a cool, bold image of female pain and liberation

Guardian

The narrative zips along with the crackling intelligence of Donna Tartt, full of twists and zips, and genuine surprises... Confessions is an astonishing and remarkable novel, and truly deserving of all the accolades coming its way

Irish Independent

Worth the hype. Confessions is a bold, beautiful book, and already builds anticipation for Airey’s next move

Financial Times

A beautifully written novel... we loved it

Oliver Callan, RTÉ

Across three generations of women, Airey deftly explores the pull of the past, love, loss, and the complexities of the choices that shape our lives

IMAGE magazine

An epic debut

The Examiner

Driven by the whims and passions and tragedies of its central characters and split in its narration from each of them... striking

Harper's Bazaar