The Truth Must Dazzle Gradually

Critics Review

• A beautiful bittersweet story of love, loss and families all set in the most irresistible of locations. Tears were shed!

  Graham Norton

• A moving and powerful novel from one of Ireland’s finest new writers

  John Boyne

• Such a true gift of a novel, with its sumptuous forward momentum, and rare precision, and inspired imagery. The Truth Must Dazzle Gradually generates a very bright light, one that is human, graceful, and healing. It’s an absolute pleasure to read

  Sebastian Barry

• Just loved it . . . so moving on motherhood, depression, family ties and Ireland

  Annie Macmanus

• A beautiful story. I was gripped and held in a state of love for all the characters

  Sarah Winman, Sunday Times bestselling author of Tin Man

• I devoured this, falling in love with the setting and with every character – and when I reached the end, I wept. It is just glorious. A sweeping family safe and, at the same time, a close-up on the everyday beautiful details that make up love

  Emma Flint, author of Little Deaths

• We are seduced by the story of the star-crossed lovers

  Sunday Times

• Cullen’s quietly devastating second novel is both a family saga and a careful exploration of the reality of living with mental health issues

  i paper

• A beautiful meditation on family life in Ireland

  Elaine Feeney, Irish Times

• An extremely moving read. Handles the complexities of love, grief, family life and mental illness with sensitivity and depth. A truly gorgeous novel.

  Ali Land, author of Good Me, Bad Me

• Intensely moving, beautifully written and drenched with Irish atmosphere, this novel asks brave and thoughtful questions about mental health

  Daily Mail

• I really enjoyed Helen Cullen’s confident voice and lyrical descriptions and was relieved by the optimistic and redemptive ending as I had become so invested in the characters. I’ll look out for more from this author

  Clare Chambers, author of Small Pleasures

• So wonderful on the Irish family and the utter complexity of motherhood, family entanglement and love

  Elaine Feeney, poet and author of As You Were

• An honest meditation on love and motherhood – this is a story of the confessions that aren’t easily made; the secret hopes and desires that can feel too complicated or painful to express. Cullen is a thoughtful writer and she dissects the stubborn optimism of the human heart with skill and sympathy

  Irish Independent

• A compassionate portrayal of love, support and grief, The Truth Must Dazzle Gradually contains moments so recognisable to anyone who has suffered from depression that credit must be given to Cullen for depicting mental illness in all its senseless brutality while never exploiting it for sentimental reasons… There are many strengths to this novel, not least of which is the author’s decision not to fill the pages with anguish . . . a writer whose skill is matched by an ability to surprise with each new work

  John Boyne, Irish Times

• Precise, haunting and, above all, beautiful . . . has the twin ability to inspire you to take delight in the world, yet also cry with the pain that unfolds in its pages . . . a book of rare quality

  i magazine

• I loved this book so much . . . Gorgeous

  Aisling Bea

• A powerful and poignant narrative told over a lifetime; exploring unconditional love, heartbreak and the beautiful flaws of human nature set within a family unit. (Cullen) is an astute and empathic writer and an incredible voice in Irish literature. You’ll fall in love with the Moone family and they will linger in your heart long after you read the final pages

  Cat Hogan, author of They All Fall Down and There Was A Crooked Man

• Beautifully-observed […] charts a family across 37 years, living through a tragedy on a remote island; portraying mental health and the fall-out around it with enormous humanity and integrity. Tonally reminiscent of recent Colm Tóibín

  Caoilinn Hughes, author of Orchid and The Wasp

• A beautiful novel – Helen Cullen writes with such deft care and attention about the things that hold us together when everything falls apart

  Rónán Hession, author of Leonard and Hungry Paul

• Such a tender read. Astute and compassionate, it made me cry. It’s full of love. And it’s quietly magnificent

  Tor Udall, author of A Thousand Paper Birds

• A perfect combination of deeply-felt tragedy with great hopefulness

  Anne Youngson, author of Meet Me at the Museum

• A remarkable book

  Joy Rhoades, author of The Woolgrower's Companion

• A superb second novel that goes to places you mightn’t expect but which ultimately end up making a great deal of sense. It touches on a lot thematically and doesn’t ever suggest that any one life path can be a cure for severe mental illness and it does some things that… are very pleasing indeed. I had a LOT OF FEELINGS

  Claire Hennessy, author and editor of Banshee Journal

• Loved it. Beautiful and original

  Sunday Independent

• A beautifully observed saga of abandoned dreams, loss and self-discovery

  Alan McGonagle, author of Ithaca

• Absolute poetry and a love letter to family and to the arts. The depiction of depression is as accurate as any I’ve read and the empathy in this book is beautiful

  Maggie Smith, award-winning author of Good Bones and Keep Moving

• Powerful, intimate, moving – a beautiful exploration of love and family

  Maria Dickenson, M.D. Dubray Books

• This will touch your soul

  Sainsbury's Magazine

• Cullen’s atmospheric novel captures beautifully the continuity of life even at times of deepest grief. If we avoid tragedy in literature, we’re closing ourselves off to some of the most powerful and moving writing, as exemplified by Helen Cullen’s second novel which deals delicately and humanely with the subjects of mental health and the ravaging effects of grief

  Business Post

• An Irish novel moves from a family’s joy to tragedy and back in this poignant yet hopeful novel spanning the late 1970s to 2015

  Shelf Awareness

• Cullen’s lyrical prose drives the immersive and heart-wrenching narrative. This complex study of depression and its impact on family dynamics will lure readers

  Publishers Weekly

• Love is here in spades… clear a weekend for this gorgeous read

  Library Journal (starred review)

• Praise for Helen Cullen

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• If you liked Harold Fry and Me Before You, you will love Cullen’s nostalgic debut. This life-affirming book will draw you in and keep you there

  Independent

• Delightful

  Sunday Times

• Deeply moving

  Irish Times

• I found myself totally transported into William’s poignant and beguiling world of lost opportunities and love

• This will touch your soul

  Sainsbury's Magazine

• Cullen’s writing is precise, haunting and, above all, beautiful . . . has the twin ability to inspire you to take delight in the world, yet also cry with the pain that unfolds in its pages

  i

• Deals delicately and humanely with the subjects of mental health and the ravaging effects of grief . . . ultimately a hopeful read that lives long in the memory

  Business Post

• Cullen’s quietly devastating novel is both a family saga and a careful exploration of the realities of living with mental health issues

  i

• A thoroughly moving and frequently funny story of love and compassion

  The New European

• A tender and unflinching exploration of mental illness and how it can eat into the heart of a family. Full of empathy and genuinely moving, a novel that will stay with me for a long time

  Christine Dwyer Hickey, prizewinning author of The Narrow Land