The First Day

“Fully engaging, well-written, very imaginative . . . A wonderful debut.” — Irish Times

“When you read a novel cover to cover in one day, you know it’s something exceptional.” — John Boyne, author of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Outside an east Belfast mission hall, pastor and family man Samuel Orr meets Anna, a young Beckett scholar. They embark on an intense, passionate affair, their connection both intellectual and erotic. When Anna falls pregnant, the affair is revealed. The repercussions are slow to emerge but inescapable, and the fallout, when it finally comes, is shocking.
Over thirty years later Sam, their son, is in New York, living a steady, guarded life, his childhood and family safely abandoned. But when the past once more crashes into his life, he is forced to confront the fears he has kept close all these years.

“Brilliantly written throughout . . . With tight, dispassionate, superbly controlled prose, Harrison channels the spirit of Don DeLillo or Camus.” — Irish Independent

“Harrison’s elegant prose and deeply felt characters create a novel with a fiercely beating heart.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Written with burning intensity . . . Powerful.” — Daily Mail