The Couples

Eva looked out the attic window of their charming guest house and watched the sun rise. She thought she might be sick. Splayed on the lawn below was Frank, apparently out cold. Her husband snored in the bed behind her. She loved Shay, of course she did, but right now the only person she wanted to think about was Conor. She didn't want to think about Bea or Lizzie or what Lizzie might have got up to with Shay.

Frank's 48th birthday had given the three couples an excuse for a much needed night away from children, nagging bills and ailing parents. The drink flowed, life in Dublin with all its stress felt a long way away. When Frank proposed they swap partners, it felt deliciously, irresistibly reckless. One night. No obligations. No expectations. All the women had to do was text a man of their choice.

The only rule? No falling in love.

It was a night that some of them couldn't remember. And others couldn't forget.

About the Author

Lauren Mackenzie grew up in Sydney, Australia but now lives in Dublin with her family. After a long career as a screenwriter and editor in film and television, she returned to fiction in 2017, completing an MA in Creative Writing in UCD. She was shortlisted for Cuirt New Writing Prize, Hennessy New Irish Writing, and Fish Short Story Prize. She has been published in The Stinging Fly, The Moth, Banshee, the Irish Times, and The Lonely Crowd among others. Recently she was awarded Literature Bursaries by the Arts Council of Ireland and in 2021, her novel, The Couples, was a joint winner of the Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair 2021.

Reviews

"The Couples deals with relations between a group of middle-class, mid-lifer friends and the long-lasting effects of one ill-judged, hazy incident. It's humorous, deeply emotional and... unputdownable." ―Sunday Independent Best Novels of 2023

"Fresh and stylish... a diverting, grown-up story about how the fear of regret and yearning for former selves can make people do rash things, for which there are always consequences" ―Irish Times

"A brilliant novel, perceptive and precise on the intricacies of human relationships, the burdens we place on ourselves and each other, the mad dances we do around love, obligation, impulse and desire. A blockbuster in waiting" —Donal Ryan, author of The Queen of Dirt Island

"MacKenzie is a beautiful writer, with an astute eye for the relationships, desires and difficulties that make up modern mid-life, told with humour, compassion and flair. The Couples is an engrossing read, with characters that feel completely realised, their messy complicated existence alive on the page" —Olivia Fitzsimons, author of The Quiet Whispers Never Stop

"The Couples is a provocative, layered meditation on the vagaries of modern friendship, studded with gems of insight and beauty. An intriguing, compelling novel" —Nuala O’Connor, author of Nora

Dimensions: 12.9 x 1.63 x 19.81 cm