"The Dazzling Truth: A Novel"--by Helen Culllen--One Irish family. Three decades. Family drama, tragedy, and hope. One dazzling story.

The Dazzling Truth

One Irish family. Three decades. One dazzling story.

In the courtyards of Trinity College, Dublin, in 1978, aspiring actress Maeve meets pottery student Murtagh Moone. As their relationship progresses, marriage and motherhood come in quick succession, but for Maeve, with the joy of children also comes the struggle to hold on to the truest parts of herself.

Decades later, on a small Irish island, the Moone family are poised for celebration but instead are struck by tragedy. Each family member must find solace in their own separate way, until one dazzling truth brings them back together. But as the Moone family confront the past, they also journey toward a future that none of them could have predicted. Except perhaps Maeve herself.

Reviews

“Love is here in spades... clear a weekend for this gorgeous read.”—Library Journal (STARRED REVIEW)

“Cullen’s lyrical prose drives the immersive and heart-wrenching narrative. This complex study of depression and its impact on family dynamics will lure readers.”—Publishers Weekly

“With a group of well-crafted, intriguing characters, [Cullen] realistically portrays a tight-knit group of people trying to grow up and grow old under the shadow of a tragedy they can never understand. Readers will enjoy experiencing a slice of life in this small Irish community, and embrace the very interesting characters who live there.”—Booklist

"Absolute poetry and a love letter to family and to the arts. The empathy in this book is beautiful.”—Maggie Smith, award-winning author of Good Bones and Keep Moving

“A perfect combination of deeply felt tragedy with great hopefulness.”—Anne Youngson, author of Meet Me at the Museum

“An extremely moving read. Helen Cullen handles the complexities of love, grief, family life and mental illness with sensitivity and depth. A truly gorgeous novel.”—Ali Land, bestselling author of Good Me, Bad Me

“I devoured this, falling in love with the setting and with every character—and when I reached the end, I wept because it is just glorious. The Dazzling Truth is a sweeping family saga and at the same time, a close-up on the everyday beautiful details that make up love.”—Emma Flint, author of Little Deaths

“A beautiful bittersweet story of love, loss and families all set in the most irresistible of locations. Tears were shed!”—Graham Norton, BBC

“Cullen’s beautifully observed novel The Dazzling Truth charts a family across 37 years, living through a tragedy on a remote island; portraying mental health and the fall-out around it with enormous humanity and integrity. Tonally reminiscent of recent Colm Tóibín.”—Caoilinn Hughes, author of Orchid and The Wasp and The Wild Laughter

“A beautiful novel. Helen Cullen writes with such deft care and attention about the things that hold us together when everything falls apart.”—Rónán Hession, author of Leonard and Hungry Paul

“Helen Cullen is so wonderful on the Irish family and the utter complexity of motherhood, family entanglement and love. I was full on weeping at the end.”—Elaine Feeney, author of As You Were

“In The Dazzling Truth, Cullen has woven a powerful and poignant narrative told over a lifetime; exploring unconditional love, heartbreak and the beautiful flaws of human nature set within a family unit. She is an astute and empathic writer and an incredible voice in Irish literature. You'll fall in love with the Moone family and they will linger in your heart long after you read the final pages.”—Cat Hogan, author of They All Fall Down and There Was A Crooked Man

“The Dazzling Truth is such a tender read. Astute and compassionate, it made me cry. It’s full of love. And it’s quietly magnificent.”—Tor Udall, author of A Thousand Paper Birds

“A beautifully observed saga of abandoned dreams, loss and self-discovery.”—Alan McMonagle, author of Ithaca


Helen Cullen

 

Helen Cullen is an Irish writer living in London. She worked at RTE (Ireland's national broadcaster) for seven years before moving to London in 2010. In the UK, Helen established a career as an events and engagement specialist before joining the Google UK marketing team in 2015. She is now writing full-time and working on her third novel.

The first draft of her debut novel THE LOST LETTERS OF WILLIAM WOOLF was written while completing the Guardian/UEA novel writing programme under the mentorship of Michèle Roberts. 'The Lost Letters of William Woolf' was published in 2018 in the UK, Ireland, USA, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Germany, Italy, Greece and Israel and in America in 2019.

Helen's second novel will be published in 2020 as THE TRUTH MUST DAZZLE GRADUALLY in the UK and Ireland in May and as THE DAZZLING TRUTH in North America in August.

Helen holds an M.A. Theatre Studies from University College Dublin and an M.A. English Literature at Brunel University and hopes to commence a PHD in 2020.

www.helencullen.ie
Twitter: @wordsofhelen