The Amusements

''THIS BOOK is EVERYTHING'' Marian Keyes''Unputdownable . . . one of the best novels of the year'' Sunday IndependentIn the seaside town of Tramore, County Waterford, visitors arrive in waves with the tourist season, reliving the best days of their childhoods in its caravan parks, chippers and amusement arcades.Local teenager Helen Grant is indifferent to the charm of her surroundings; she dreams of escaping to art college with her glamorous classmate Stella Swaine and, from there, taking on the world. But leaving Tramore is easier said than done. Though they don''t yet know it, Helen and Stella''s lives are pulled by tides beyond their control.Following the Grant and Swaine families and their neighbours over three decades, The Amusements is a luminous and unforgettable story about roads taken and not taken - and a brilliantly observed portrait of a small-town community.__________''Flannery''s flawed, hopeful characters live and grow on the page'' ANNE ENRIGHT, author of The Gathering''Brilliant . . . her sentences crackle with life, energy and devastating insight into the human condition. She writes with a rare combination of compassion and black humour. Her characters live on in my mind like people I have always known'' LIA MILLS, author of In Your Face''Effortless, perceptive, and hugely entertaining - I loved it'' DONAL RYAN, author of Strange Flowers''A cracker of a book'' KATHLEEN MAC MAHON, author of Nothing But Blue Sky''Fantastic . . . we were gripped'' STELLAR''If you like dark humour, superbly drawn characters, caravan parks, fish suppers and slot machines, The Amusements is what you''ve been waiting for'' JAN CARSON, author of The Fire Starters''A joy to read'' LOUISE NEALON, author of Snowflake''A brilliant book. I loved meeting all these characters, who jumped off the page and stayed in my head'' RÓISÍN INGLE''Brilliant. Dramatic, heartfelt, sometimes shocking and sad'' IRISH EXAMINER