Trouble the Living

A Novel

By: Francesca McDonnell Capossela

Narrated by: Alana Kerr Collins, Jesse Vilinsky

From Northern Ireland to Southern California and back—a mother and daughter confront the violence of the past in an enthralling novel about the possibility of love and redemption during the most transforming and unsettled times.

It’s the final years of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and Bríd and her sister, Ina, try to maintain a stable life in a divided country. Pushed by her mother’s fanaticism and a family tragedy, Bríd joins the IRA and makes a devastating choice. Frightened and guilt ridden, she flees, leaving behind Ireland and her family for America.

Years later, her guilt and tragic history still buried, Bríd is an overprotective mother raising her sensitive daughter, Bernie, in Southern California. Growing up amid a different kind of social unrest, Bernie’s need for independence and her exploration of her sexuality drive a wedge into their already-fragile relationship. When mother and daughter are forced to return to Northern Ireland, they both must confront the past, the present, and the women they’ve become.

As they navigate their troubled legacies, mother and daughter untangle the threads of love, violence, and secrets that formed them—and that will stubbornly, beautifully, bind them forever.

©2023 Francesca McDonnell Capossela (P)2023 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"This book explores generational anger, whether these daughters should take up the mantels of their mothers’ fights or find a healthier path for themselves, and what exactly they owe to their mothers who have sacrificed so much." —Booklist

"An original and deftly crafted novel of cultural heritage, family life, and women's relationships, Trouble the Living by gifted author Francesca McDonnell Capossela is an inherently fascinating read from cover to cover..." —Midwest Book Review

"Francesca Capossela is a startling new talent, elegant, erudite, humane, and with a true novelist’s sense of form and proportion. Her debut straddles continents and generations with seemingly effortless lyricism and verve. Her exacting insight into the emotional dynamics of family is astonishing." —Jonathan Lethem, bestselling author of Motherless Brooklyn and The Fortress of Solitude

get ready to feel

I really enjoyed this book. The way the author develops the characters, She really makes it so you feel the emotions of the characters. The ups the downs and everything in between. I look forward to the next book from the author.

beautiful and thrilling

A story about mothers and daughters that I couldn’t put down. The narrators were brilliant.