Confessions

By: Catherine Airey

Narrated by: Eileen O'Higgins, Bronagh Waugh, Ruby Campbell, Skye Bennett, Catherine Airey, Kwaku Fortune

Brought to you by Penguin.

'I was at a time in my life where I got to thinking more about people's choices – how everything would be different if just the slightest decision changed...'

It is late September in 2001 and the walls of New York are papered over with photos of the missing. Cora Brady’s father is there, the poster she made taped to columns and bridges. Her mother died long ago and now, orphaned on the cusp of adulthood, Cora is adrift and alone. Soon, a letter will arrive with the offer of a new life: far out on the ragged edge of Ireland, in the town where her parents were young, an estranged aunt can provide a home and fulfil a long-forgotten promise. There the story of Cora's family is hidden, and in her presence will begin to unspool…

An essential, immersive debut from an astonishing new voice, Confessions traces the arc of three generations of women as they experience in their own time the irresistible gravity of the past: its love and tragedy, its mystery and redemption, and, in all things intended and accidental, the beauty and terrible shade of the things we do.

‘A remarkable debut. A complex and compulsive read that unravels the intricate twists and revelations among three generations of women with elegance and urgency.’ Miranda Cowley Heller, bestselling author of THE PAPER PALACE

'CONFESSIONS is a beating heart of a novel, intricate both in its weaving and its unspooling. An irresistible read.' Yael van der Wouden, Booker-shortlisted author of THE SAFEKEEP


© Catherine Airey 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

Critic reviews

A saga: its serious pleasures are its expansiveness and range, and Airey’s rare, particular instinct... a cool, bold image of female pain and liberation

Confessions is a remarkable debut. A complex and compulsive read that unravels the intricate twists and revelations among three generations of women with elegance and urgency (Miranda Cowley Heller, author of THE PAPER PALACE)

CONFESSIONS is a beating heart of a novel, intricate both in its weaving and its unspooling. An irresistible read (Yael van der Wouden, author of THE SAFEKEEP)

An intricately woven epic, Confessions is both intimate and expansive, a novel that teems with raw, hungry life (Colin Walsh, author of KALA)

I was mesmerized from the very first pages of Catherine Airey's startling debut, Confessions. The story of Maire and Roisin, two Irish sisters living an ocean apart, proceeds with an almost hypnotic power and grace - it has the certainty of fable and the true originality of a powerful new voice in fiction. (Tara Conklin, New York Times bestselling author of THE LAST ROMANTICS)

Propulsive and utterly captivating … Airey has shades of the American novelists Donna Tartt and Jeffrey Eugenides in her style

The beautifully written narrative goes on to reveal the secrets of three generations of women. It’s an epic family saga involving a host of mysteries and I galloped to the end. I loved it.

The narrative zips along with the crackling intelligence of Donna Tartt, full of twists and zips, and genuine surprises... Confessions is an astonishing and remarkable novel, and truly deserving of all the accolades coming its way

Brilliantly conceived and magnificently executed, I truly could not put it down. I haven’t come across as honest, truthful, compelling, and gripping a writer for decades. The work of a debut novelist that feels like the work of a seasoned and highly accomplished author (Anna Fitzgerald, author of GIRL IN THE MAKING)

Confessions is a tender and bitingly original work that effortlessly weaves the parochial weight of Irish family history with the mendacious allure of Manhattan's seedy streets. Catherine Airey reads like a natural successor to Maeve Brennan, a chronicler of the pain and peril of self-determination. (Darragh McKeon, award-winning author of REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY)

wonderfully woven web

I loved the fact that as this story unravelled, I constantly had to perform continuity checks. Who was where when? Why? The non-chronological storytelling was very effective for a reader piecing together vastly different cultures, ages and values. Little wonder that Catherine Airey immediately received a handsome unconditional advance to write a 2nd novel. I can only imagine her writer's block - "how do I follow on from Confessions?"