Thirst Trap - by Gráinne O'Hare (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

NATIONAL BESTSELLER - WINNER OF THE KERRY GROUP IRISH NOVEL OF THE YEAR AWARD - A bitingly funny novel about your late 20s as you stare down 30--when do you tire of morning hangovers, days of dead-end entry-level jobs, and late nights at bars? This friend group is about to find out.

"A little bit Dolly Alderton and a little bit Lena Dunham, with a wholly Irish soul."--The New York Times

Sometimes friends hold you together.
Sometimes they're why you're falling apart.

Harley, Róise, and Maggie have been friends for ages. After meeting in primary school years ago, the women are still together, spending their nights on the sticky dancefloors of Belfast's grungiest pubs. Each woman is navigating her own tangle of entry-level jobs, messy romantic entanglements, and late nights, but they always find their way back to each other, and to the ramshackle house they share. And amidst the familiar chaos, the three are still grieving their fourth housemate, whose room remains untouched, their last big fight hanging heavily over their heads.

The girls' house has witnessed the highs and lows of their roaring twenties--raucous parties, surprising (and sometimes regrettable) hook-ups, and hellish hangovers. But as they approach thirty, their home begins to crumble around them and the fault lines in their group become harder to ignore. In the wreckage, they must decide if their friendship will survive into a new decade--or if growing up sometimes means letting go.

Brimming with heart and humor, Thirst Trap is an exuberant ode to friendship, to not having it all figured out, and to ordering just one more round before heading home.

Review Quotes

"O'Hare's tale of three hard-partying housemates in Belfast dealing with the undignified onset of their 30s and the aftermath of the death of a close friend--formerly their fourth roommate--reads as a little bit Dolly Alderton and a little bit Lena Dunham, with a wholly Irish soul."--The New York Times

"A novel of grief, gallows humor, rock bottoms, and self-exploration, Thirst Trap is a hilarious, bittersweet ride."--The Gay & Lesbian Review

"Raucous, sexy, and f*cking hilarious. A heady mix of Michael Magee's Close to Home and Lena Dunham's Girls. Everybody should read this book."--Aimée Walsh, author of Exile

"Compulsively readable and brilliant on friendship and grief."--Daily Mail

"We've all got that friend. . . . The one who has the whole group in thrall to her stories . . . delivered with panache and killer timing. . . . It's always a joy hanging out with this friend. A rush. And that's what it feels like reading Thirst Trap, the debut novel from Gráinne O'Hare."--The Independent

"A triumph. Gráinne O'Hare is like the literary love child of Miranda July and Carrie Fisher, transposed in Belfast--hilarious, smart, and chaotic in the best way."--Louise Nealon, author of Snowflake

"Hilarious and gut-wrenching."--Alice Slater, author of Death of a Bookseller

"Brilliant . . . A beautiful look at friendship and transition, it was funny, bittersweet, and honest."--Chloe Michelle Howarth, author of Sunburn

"Spiky, funny, cool, heartbreaking . . . There were so many turns of phrase I had to read again and again because they were so perfectly put. It's a deeply fulfilling and tender read about the power of female friendship and of finding light in dark places. A dazzlingly assured novel."--Emma Stonex, author of The Lamplighters

"A promising debut . . . The New Sobriety will have to wait--the party novel is not dead. At least in Ireland."--Kirkus Reviews

"It's one of those novels that you can't believe is a debut. O'Hare is a writer to watch out for in 2025 and beyond."--RTÉ

"[A] vibrant debut . . . this is one to cherish."--Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Gráinne O'Hare is a writer from Belfast based in Newcastle upon Tyne. She received a Northern Debut Award for Fiction from New Writing North, and was awarded funding by the Arts Council for the development and completion of her first novel. She has also been shortlisted for the Francis MacManus Short Story Competition and the Bridport Prize, and came in the top three of the Benedict Kiely Short Story Competition. She is media sub-editor of Criticks reviews for the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, and has a PhD on eighteenth-century women's life-writing from Newcastle University.