I love Irish authors and was very intrigued by the premise of this book.

One November day, a middle class mother of two leaves her home in Ireland. Not knowing where she is going just that she is done with that life. She emails into work to say she will not be in that day, texts her husband to say that she is going on a trip but is safe and will return soon then buys a one way ticket on a ferry to Wales.

I found the main character to be very unlikeable by but the prose and story is very provocative and interesting. She tells the story of people she meets along the way, her life with her family and reflecting back on herself as a mother and what society seems a good mother should be. 

Moving to the cottage in Wales feels like she has freed herself from her former life but she still thinks about what her leaving has done to her family back home. Life will still continue. It is quite a bleak story and is undoubtedly written very well, but it just unfortunately felt a bit too pessimistic for me.