The Mess We're In

A vivid story of friendship, hedonism and finding your own rhythm

By: Annie Macmanus

Narrated by: Annie Macmanus

A book about finding home in a strange new place, and finding yourself when your life is a mess. The hotly anticipated second novel by the Sunday Times bestselling author of Mother Mother.

I'm a Londoner now. I'm a voice in the noise. I'm ready.

It's the turn of the millennium and, landing in London with nothing but her CD collection and demo tape, Orla Quinn moves into a squalid Kilburn house with her best mate and a band called Shiva.

Orla wants to make music, but juggling two jobs and partying every night isn't helping. Back in Ireland her parents' marriage has crumbled, she's not speaking to her father, and her mother and sister are drinking too much.

While Orla's own dreams seem to be going nowhere, Shiva are on the brink of something big. But as the hype around the band intensifies, so does the hedonism, and relationships in the house are growing strained.This is the story of a young woman thrashing through life, trying to find home in a strange new place. It's also a story about music: how it can break you down and build you back up again, and how to find your rhythm when all you hear is noise.

©2023 Annie Macmanus (P)2023 Headline Publishing Group Limited

Critic reviews

"I really liked the book. I loved the pace of it, it belts along but never feels rushed. The writing is so vivid - I could almost feel Orla's hangover, and everyone else's too. [Macmanus has] created a great gang of characters, and a great variety too, all of them very human... All the music in the novel is cleverly and very successfully achieved. And London - what [she's] managed to do with London, and what London means to different generations of Irish people - is terrific, and deeply moving." (Roddy Doyle)

"Just finished [The Mess We're In] and I'm so sad it's over. I could have read another sixty chapters about Orla's life, Fahy's pub and her family... A fantastic read." (Joanne McNally)

"Such a gorgeous book... I absolutely ate up every word... It has been so long since a book has stopped me from, not just checking my phone, but actively made me want to put my phone to the side and focus completely on the story. I loved Orla, I can see the TV show or the movie already. I loved the world - oh my God was it nostalgic about moving to London... It's just so grounded in someone who knows the world and place they're talking about and it just fully comes through... It's just done so brilliantly and needless to say at the end I cried... I loved this book." (Aisling Bea)

Gorgeous storytelling

Loved this story and Annie Mac’s narration. Such vivid depictions of nights before, mornings after, flailing for direction, subtle rejection. I was right back in my twenties in 2000s London. Highly recommend the audiobook for Annie Mac’s voice bringing the Irish in London experience so perfectly to life.