The Walking People

Critics Review

• A compelling drama of transatlantic Irish life

• Marries a deliciously old-fashioned style of storytelling with a fresh take on the immigrant experience . . . A warm, involving family drama

  Booklist

• An epic story about immigration, identity and family . . . Keane portrays the complex and, at times, challenging lives of these working-class women with tenderness and compassion

  Guardian

• Atmospheric, moving and brilliantly well-written

  Daily Mail

• This atmospheric read that spans from 1950s Ireland to modern-day America and follows the fortunes of a woman on the run from a family secret

  Good Housekeeping

• Engrossing . . . Captures the windswept grittiness of Irish poverty as vividly as the technicolour hustle and bustle of 1960s New York. The Walking People is the kind of novel you simply don’t want to end

  Daily Express

• Keane’s previous novel Ask Again, Yes, was on my best Books of 2019, and this is just as good. Its slow, melodic pace proves we don’t always need fast action and twists. Set between Ireland and new York, it’s about two sisters; one craves adventure, the other, family; both have secrets

  Prima, 'Best Books of March'

• An American dream story, told over decades, taking its reader from rural 1915 Ireland to the streets of New York and back again

  Times Radio

• A beautifully crafted novel about love, loyalty, culture, family and identity

  Irish Sunday Independent

• A moving and sweeping story that takes readers from the west coast of Ireland to America, following a family of immigrants across the different decades

  Culturefly

• I was a big fan of Ask Again, Yes and this is every bit as good

  Good Housekeeping

• An epic yarn . . . an evocative portrait of the immigrant, but also adds greater subtlety to this theme of belonging

  RTE Guide

• The story becomes so engrossing it grows on you with its real and engaging characters … the divide between urban USA and rural Ireland is brilliantly grasped … a very moving and original love story

  Irish Examiner

• Praise for Ask Again, Yes

  -

• The new Little Fires Everywhere

  Stylist

• One of the most exceptional novels of the summer . . . Has the makings of a future classic.

  Sunday Express

• A beautiful novel, bursting at the seams with empathy

  Elle

• Absolutely brilliant, a must read for our time

• I’ll read everything she writes

• Powerful and moving . . . Mary Beth Keane is a writer of extraordinary depth, feeling and wit. Readers will love this book, as I did

  Meg Wolitzer, author of The Female Persuasion

• Immersive and deeply moving

  Anna Hope, author of Expectation

• A pleasantly accessible novel that will be popular with book clubs . . . Keane is a nuanced observer

  Sunday Times