Saoirse

In Irish author Hurtubise’s engrossing U.S. debut, artist Saoirse Byrne’s newfound success proves to be a mixed blessing when the Irish Times publishes an article about her work that threatens to bring to light her closely guarded secrets. The chapters alternate from Saoirse’s happy new life in 1999 Donegal with her partner, Daithí, to her troubled past in North America. Saoirse was born Sarah Roy in Canada and raised in the U.S., where her stepfather forces her to traffic drugs from their home in Michigan to Florida as a teenager. Pursued by the law and her fellow traffickers, she flees to Ireland in 1990, when she’s 18. On the flight to Dublin, she’s chatted up by seatmate Paul Byrne, who gives her a place to stay and whose family supports her art education. Paul turns out to be physically and sexually abusive, however, especially after Saoirse meets Daithí, an old schoolmate of Paul’s, and Paul picks up on their mutual attraction. With a slow drip of information, the narrative reveals what Saoirse went through as a teen, why she had to escape to Ireland, the ways in which Paul abused and manipulated her, and how she sublimated those traumatic experiences into her paintings. Hurtubise places her memorable heroine at the center of a propulsive and twisty plot, and makes Saoirse’s desire for freedom palpable on every page. It’s a knockout. Agent: Gráinne Fox, UTA. (Feb.)