{"title":"Gavin McCrea","description":"\u003cp\u003eWelcome to our \u003cstrong\u003eGavin McCrea\u003c\/strong\u003e collection, where immersive storytelling meets rich, historical contexts. Gavin McCrea is a talented author known for his ability to weave intricate narratives that blend fact and fiction with a deft touch, creating memorable works that both inform and entertain.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMcCrea's acclaimed novel, \u003cem\u003eMrs Engels\u003c\/em\u003e, offers a fascinating glimpse into the life of Lizzie Burns, the common-law wife of Friedrich Engels, presenting a unique perspective on a remarkable historical figure. This piece of \u003cstrong\u003ehistorical fiction\u003c\/strong\u003e cleverly combines wit and drama, shedding light on an untold story from the past.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eRousseau’s Lost Children\u003c\/em\u003e is another remarkable work that delves into \u003cstrong\u003ebiography and memoir\u003c\/strong\u003e, exploring complex character studies and human experiences with McCrea’s characteristic depth and insight.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eThe Sisters Mao\u003c\/em\u003e, McCrea takes readers through a journey of political and personal revolution, once again showcasing his prowess in the realm of \u003cstrong\u003ehistorical fiction\u003c\/strong\u003e. With vivid characters and dynamic settings, this novel encapsulates the struggles and fervour of its time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLastly, \u003cem\u003eCells\u003c\/em\u003e offers an introspective look into the author’s own life, classified under \u003cstrong\u003ebiography and memoir\u003c\/strong\u003e. This deeply personal narrative traverses themes of identity, belonging, and the intricate structures of modern life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhether you are drawn to captivating historical narratives or are curious about personal explorations in \u003cem\u003ebiography and memoir\u003c\/em\u003e, Gavin McCrea’s works promise an engaging read that will resonate with history enthusiasts and literary aficionados alike.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"cells-by-gavin-mccrea-9781922585097","title":"Cells","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Are you going into town today?\" she says, which annoys me because it's something she says all the time, having forgotten she said it before, and I say, \"Jesus, Mum, not this again,\" and she says, \"What again?\" and I say, \"Town is shut down,\" and while she can see I am upset and wants not to upset me like this, she is also wounded by my tone, and I am ashamed then and can only look at my plate, and I decide not to bring up what I intended to bring up, about the past, and about my need for her to apologise for it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eGavin is spending the quarantine in a small flat in south Dublin with his eighty-year-old mother, whose mind is slowly slipping away. He has lived most of his adult life abroad and has returned home to care for her and to write a novel. But he finds that all he can write about is her.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMoving through a sequence of remembered rooms—the \"cells\"—Gavin unspools an intimate story of his upbringing and early adulthood: feeling out of place in the insular suburb in which he grew up, the homophobic bullying he suffered at school, his brother's mental illness and drug addiction, his father's sudden death, his own devastating diagnosis, his struggles and triumphs as a writer, and above all, always, his relationship with his mother. Her brightness shines a light over his childhood, but her betrayal of his teenage self leads to years of resentment and disconnection. Now, he must find a way to reconcile with her, before it is too late.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWritten with unusual frankness and urgency, \u003cem\u003eCells\u003c\/em\u003e is at once an uncovering of filial love and its limits, and a coming to terms with separation and loss.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"A brave, raw, visceral memoir told with such acuity, insight, and compassion, I could barely put it down. Gavin McCrea's unflinching mapping of his family's struggles, his own journey towards individuation and self-realisation, as well as his deep, conflicted love for his mother, is beautifully rendered, painful, and real. A stunning, memorable read.\"\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-Lisa Harding, author of \u003cem\u003eBright Burning Things\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"This is a book that brims with stored-up pain—and with a very particular kind of courage. For all its dark and sometimes brutal honesty, what the reader is going to remember here is the way that McCrea's prose fights on through his hurt to bring home pages that seem lit from within by love and beauty. A memoir that is as rewarding as it is undoubtedly challenging.\"\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-Neil Bartlett, author of \u003cem\u003eReady To Catch Him Should He Fall\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eAddress Book\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"\u003cem\u003eCells\u003c\/em\u003e is a compulsive tidal force of a book—detailed, vulnerable, and brave, it pulled me in swiftly and held me to the very end.\"\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-Sean Hewitt, author of \u003cem\u003eAll Down Darkness Wide\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46370117353708,"sku":"9781922585097","price":34.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/14262093482872.jpg?v=1744805810"},{"product_id":"mrs-engels-by-gavin-mccrea-9781925106688","title":"Mrs Engels","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLove is a bygone idea, centuries-worn. There are things we can go without, and love is among them; bread and a warm hearth are not.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn September 1870, a train leaves Manchester bound for London. On board is Lizzie Burns, a poor worker from the Irish slums, who is embarking on the journey that will change her forever. Sitting in the first-class carriage beside her lover, the wealthy mill-owner Frederick Engels, the vision of a life of peace and comfort takes shape before her eyes—finally, at nearly fifty, she is to be the lady of a house and the wife to a man. Perhaps now she can put the difficulties of the past behind her and be happy?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn Gavin McCrea's stunning debut novel, \u003cem\u003eMrs Engels\u003c\/em\u003e, we follow Lizzie as the promise of an easy existence in the capital slips from her view, and as she gains, in its place, a profound understanding of herself and of the world. While Frederick and his friend Karl Marx try to spur revolution among the working classes, Lizzie is compelled to undertake a revolution of another kind—of the heart and the soul.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHaunted by her first love; burdened by a sense of duty to right past mistakes; and torn between a desire for independence and the pragmatic need to be taken care of, Lizzie learns, as she says, that \"the world doesn't happen how you think it will. The secret is to soften to it, and to take its blows.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWry, astute, and often hilarious, Lizzie is as compelling and charismatic a figure as ever walked the streets of Victorian England, or its novels. In giving her renewed life, Gavin McCrea earns his place in the pantheon of great debut novelists.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46550078521580,"sku":"9781925106688","price":34.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/11392213482873.jpg?v=1749952535"},{"product_id":"mrs-engels-by-gavin-mccrea-9781925321319","title":"Mrs Engels","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLonglisted for a UK Guardian First Book Award\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLove is a bygone idea, centuries-worn. There are things we can go without, and love is among them; bread and a warm hearth are not.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn September 1870, a train leaves Manchester bound for London. On board is Lizzie Burns, a poor worker from the Irish slums, embarking on the journey that will change her forever. Sitting in the first-class carriage beside her lover, the wealthy mill-owner Frederick Engels, the vision of a life of peace and comfort takes shape before her eyes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBut as Lizzie soon learns, 'the world doesn't happen how you think it will. The secret is to soften to it, and to take its blows.'\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMrs Engels\u003c\/em\u003e by Gavin McCrea explores this poignant narrative, painting a vibrant picture of love, ambition, and the complexities of life during a transformative period in history.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46550078685420,"sku":"9781925321319","price":27.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/13538523482873.jpg?v=1749952566"},{"product_id":"rousseaus-lost-children-by-gavin-mccrea-9781529370072","title":"Rousseau's Lost Children","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eParis, 1777. The philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau receives a mysterious letter from a foreign visitor, Gavin Mulvany, asking whether the great man will take walks with him. Against his better judgement, Rousseau agrees. Might this stranger, who claims to be from the twenty-first century, be the true friend that Rousseau has been searching for his whole life?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eParis, 2022. Gavin, a middle-aged academic, leaves his husband behind in Ireland to finish a long-delayed biography of Rousseau. While in Paris, he avoids work on his book by instead taking walks with Rousseau himself. As they wander the streets, Gavin and Rousseau open up about certain past actions that have come to define them. Was Rousseau justified in abandoning his children? Should Gavin be forgiven for the terrible crime he committed to protect a man he once loved? Can talking and walking together lead both Gavin and Rousseau to finally be honest with themselves and their loved ones, and to a better understanding of what love, family, and society really mean?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eRousseau's Lost Children\u003c\/em\u003e is a thrilling epistolary novel cast across centuries, a bold and illuminating investigation into the boundaries of personal liberty and matters of morality, desire and loyalty.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47074212446444,"sku":"9781529370072","price":37.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/b9f75ae673450e1a4af993ecab5ea59f.jpg?v=1765177148"},{"product_id":"the-sisters-mao-by-gavin-mccrea-9781925713572","title":"The Sisters Mao","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAgainst the backdrop of China's Cultural Revolution and Europe's sexual revolution, the fates of two families in London and Beijing become unexpectedly intertwined, in this dazzling new novel from the author of \u003cem\u003eMrs Engels\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRevolution is a Family Affair.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn London, sisters Iris and Eva, members of a radical performance collective, plan an attack on the West End theatre where their mother is playing the title role in \u003cem\u003eMiss Julie\u003c\/em\u003e. Meanwhile in Beijing, Jiang Qing, Chairman Mao's wife, rehearses a gala performance of her model ballet, \u003cem\u003eThe Red Detachment of Women\u003c\/em\u003e, which she will use in order to attack her enemies in the Party.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs the preparations for these two astonishing performances unfold, Iris, Eva, and Jiang Qing are transformed into unforgettable protagonists in a single epic drama. The three 'sisters', although fighting very different personal battles, find themselves bound together by the passions of love, by the obsessions of power, and by the forces of history.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eExquisitely observed, relevant, and wise, \u003cem\u003eThe Sisters Mao\u003c\/em\u003e shows us that the political is always personal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eWritten with McCrea's trademark confidence and virtuosity, this is a sumptuous, winning book. Its characters are not so much drawn from life (Imelda Marcos makes an entrance) as strange revenants from a turbulent dream. Its high intelligence throws light everywhere, and suggestive shade.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-Sebastian Barry, author of \u003cem\u003eA Thousand Moons\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe tremors of Gavin McCrea's prose thrillingly record what happens as a world spins off its axis, shattering public and private lives. This electrifying fiction confirms McCrea's status among the leading novelists of his brilliant generation.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-Frank McGuinness, author of \u003cem\u003eSomeone Who'll Watch Over Me\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA sweeping political saga spanning East and West. McCrea's confident and lucid prose gives us both the personal and the political. Mesmerising.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-Xiaolu Guo, author of \u003cem\u003eA Lover's Discourse\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47341406683372,"sku":"9781925713572","price":38.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/17461053482873.jpg?v=1772191214"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.pro\/collections\/gavin-mccrea.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}