Although this is McKee’s first novel, the book shows remarkable assurance in terms of both plotting and tone. The story is often bleak and finishes in devastating style.

RUTH MCKEE’s first novel, Wild Iris, tells a compelling tale of middle-aged guilt. The story revolves around Eve, a woman who is marking her 42nd birthday but is profoundly haunted by her own past. Eve was raised by Gerty, a woman who was not Eve’s biological mother but was a strict and stoic Presbyterian living in Antrim. As a teenager, Eve escaped these roots to move south for university, ultimately neglecting Gerty as the old woman sickened and died.

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