The Rachel Incident

A Novel

By: Caroline O'Donoghue

Narrated by: Tara Flynn

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • A USA TODAY BESTSELLER • A brilliantly funny novel about friends, lovers, Ireland in chaos, and a young woman desperately trying to manage all three • “O'Donoghue deepens the familiar coming-of-age premise with riveting moral complications."—People

"If you’ve ever been unsure what to do with your degree in English; if you’ve ever wondered when the rug-buying part of your life will start...if you’ve ever loved the wrong person, or the right person at the wrong time…In short, if you’ve ever been young, you will love The Rachel Incident like I did.”—Gabrielle Zevin, New York Times best-selling author of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

Rachel is a student working at a bookstore when she meets James, and it’s love at first sight. Effervescent and insistently heterosexual, James soon invites Rachel to be his roommate and the two begin a friendship that changes the course of both their lives forever. Together, they run riot through the streets of Cork city, trying to maintain a bohemian existence while the threat of the financial crash looms before them.

When Rachel falls in love with her married professor, Dr. Fred Byrne, James helps her devise a reading at their local bookstore, with the goal that she might seduce him afterwards. But Fred has other desires. So begins a series of secrets and compromises that intertwine the fates of James, Rachel, Fred, and Fred’s glamorous, well-connected, bourgeois wife. Aching with unrequited love, shot through with delicious, sparkling humor, The Rachel Incident is a triumph.

©2023 Caroline O'Donoghue (P)2023 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK: VOGUE, ELECTRIC LIT, SHE READS • FEATURED AS A SUMMER READING PICK BY GOOP, NEW YORK POST, NYLON, SCARY MOMMY, AND NEWSDAY

“Exuberant, bitingly satirical….Recalls the fiction of both Sally Rooney and Anne Tyler as the author interrogates the dynamics of power, from academia to publishing houses to bedrooms….O’Donoghue steers us toward reckonings large and small, her hand steady on the tiller….A gratifying, accomplished novel.”—Hamilton Cain, The New York Times

"O’Donoghue [has] got my full attention....The Rachel Incident offers a tender reflection on those 20-something friendships that leave a permanent imprint....One of the many lovable things about this novel is O’Donoghue’s kindhearted perspective on the awkwardness of the college years....Profoundly satisfying....O’Donoghue has found a way to tell this story in scenes both heartbreaking and funny. She illuminates these Irish lives with a light all her own."—Ron Charles, The Washington Post

"Who knew the financial crisis could be so … fun? Don’t get me wrong, The Rachel Incident gets into some heavy themes–class, sexual identity, abortion, to name a few–but this book navigates a young Irishwoman’s chaotic early 20s, during a specific economic moment, with a cozy warmth that had me laughing out loud throughout. This is one of those catch-yourself-smiling-without-realizing-it books–and one I think I’ll go back to, the next time I just want to feel like it’s all going to be OK."—Miles Parks, NPR

Enjoyable- such a human story of love and adversity with a charming Rachel.

Enjoyable and real - such a human story of love and adversity with a charming Rachel.

An Excellent Listen

Caroline O’Donoghue hits it out of the park with this intelligent, heartfelt beauty. The story, the writing, the narration are all superb.

Loved all the characters

This book entertained me from beginning to end. Loved the narrator. Treat yourself to this book.

Loved it!

This was a book club pick and I was initially not very interested after reading the blurb. However, once I started listening, I was entranced. And I loved the ending!

Interesting and well written, could never describe it as funny.

I recommend this book. It’s well written, with well developed characters and an excellent narrator. Reviewed as “ brilliantly funny”…. Can’t agree with that.

Perfect narration!!! 

Not a genre I would particularly choose yet I loved every minute of it. Great story, great pace. Tara Flynn’s narration was excellent. All the accents from Cork to Derry to London to American are so well done. 5⭐️

Love the narration

The lilt if all the different Irish accents was so well done! Perfect for the story!

Really loved it

Great story and excellent narration. If you like Sally Rooney, you’ll like this. An enjoyable, easy listen.

Well written but.....

Other than the "incident", it's just a story about Rachel's life including her friends and boyfriend.. not a lot of substance and not really riveting... kind of meh... I don't read a lot of coming of age books though, maybe that's pretty typical...?

A new favorite!!!!

Absolutely adored this book and the narration. It’s one I won’t soon forget. HIGHLY recommend!!