Marble Gardens: A moving tale of friendship, marriage and motherhood - Tapa dura

IRISH REVIEWS:
'... a stunning new novel about the friendship between two women that may be
her best so far'
IRISH INDEPENDENT

'A lot happens in Marble Gardens: a satisfying beach read, with more
substance than most'
BOOKS IRELAND

'Marble Gardens is filled with strong, well-drawn characters and paints an
evocative picture. there's emotional escapism, the dismantling of illusion,
post-traumatic stress, infidelity, loyalty and more. And a morally complex
love story. Or two.'
SUNDAY INDEPENDENT

'Exploring the dramas which friendships, marriages and families face,
Purcell's eighth novel concerns Sophie and Riba, childhood friends with very
different personalities'
EVENING HERALD

'Purcell's attention to detail, the off-screen change of light or emphasis,
explains her mastery of one of the most difficult genres of them all'
IN DUBLIN

'I never realised Irish romantic fiction read as juicily as this!'
THE SUNDAY TRIBUNE

'... a bright, noisy multicoloured book. a big, busy blockbuster. weeks
after
reading, its characters and themes have an odd half-life in the memory.'
IRISH INDEPENDENT

'She is adept at creating convincing characters' Bookseller (Bookseller)

'A thought-provoking read' B magazine (B magazine)

[A] 'thoughtful examination of friendship and marriage' Sunday Times (Sunday Times)

A riveting read (Australian Women's Weekly)

Sophie and Riba have known each other since childhood. Though they couldn't be more different - Sophie is elegant and diffident, while Riba is flamboyantly extrovert - the bond between them seems unbreakable. Then Riba's teenaged daughter Zelda falls gravely ill. Frustrated by the limitations of conventional medicine, Riba pins all her hopes on alternative methods. Sophie is torn between her loyalty to her friend and her fear that Zelda, whom she loves like the child she cannot have, will not get the help she desperately needs. United in their distress, Sophie and Riba's husband Brian find themselves drawn to each other. Time is running out for Zelda, for two marriages, and for a friendship...