Overview

When their bold, brassy mother vanishes into Ireland's Traveller community, Shibby Magee and her twin sister Dorah are cast adrift in a family already cracking at the seams. Under the iron rule of their rigidly bigoted grandmother, the girls grow up on opposite tracks: Dorah, bold and arrogant; Shibby, bruised and unmoored. As an adult, desperate for love, Shibby is drawn to men who damage her, trapped in patterns she can't yet see. She finds a measure of stability in the chaos of a restaurant kitchen, but a question persists: is her future in the settled world, or on the open road to God only knows where? With the steadfast support of Alice Duffy, housekeeper turned surrogate mother; Moochie de Barra, a stand-in for an emotionally absent father; and Kitty Dooley, who embodies the fierce pride and harsh realities of Traveller life - Shibby begins to confront hard truths about cultural identity, family, and what it will take to find where she truly belongs. Rich with texture and lyrical rhythm, this novel traces how early abandonment echoes into midlife, revealing what endures, what shifts, and how the cycle repeats until it finally breaks. In the tradition of Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan, Trespasses by Louise Kennedy, and Donal Ryan's The Queen of Dirt Island, Shibby Magee is a warm yet incisive portrait of a woman shaped by loss, grief, and social prejudice as she struggles toward dignity, love, and self-possession

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Reviews

""Carrie Kabak follows the indelible, indefatigable Shibby Magee during two crucial years in her life, one in girlhood and then another at midlife womanhood, as she struggles against prejudice, cruelty, and abandonment in her search to find her true place in an increasingly confounding world, be it in a bustling restaurant - or on the road as an Irish Traveller in an extraordinary, wily community I'd never heard of before and was delighted to encounter."" - Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author ""Filled with multi-dimensional characters and evocative imagery, this is a heartfelt and poignant story that lingers long after the final page."" - Holly Kennedy, Edgar Award nominee and Giller Prize longlisted author ""Shibby's journey isn't always smooth - she questions herself, struggles with feeling worthy of love, and tries to make sense of her past while building a future where she feels secure and valued. A touching and memorable story, funny at times but also quite tragic, about love, belonging, and healing. It's the kind of book that stays with you."" - Reader, Erin Leigh ""This was a wonderful rich story of a woman broken by the past and continuing to break in the present from lessons learned and the true love she seeks and a sense of belonging she so desperately wants to hang onto."" - Reader, Penne Davis ""The cadence of this book is amazing... I soon realized I was reading in an Irish accent, and knew the author had done something very, very right."" - Reader, Kristina O'Brien

Author Information

Carrie Kabak is the author of Cover the Butter, an Independent Booksellers' Pick, AudioFile Magazine Earphones Award winner, and Quill Award nominee, and of Shibby Magee. Her work has appeared in multiple anthologies, including publications by North Atlantic Books and Simon & Schuster. She writes character-driven fiction exploring relationships, family, cultural identity, and belonging.

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