Under the skin

Siblings gather for their comatose mum in this sharp debut.

- BRIGID FEEHAN

THE LAST DAYS OF JOY, by Anne Tiernan (Moa Press, $36.99) is out on March 28.

Tauranga author Anne Tiernan's debut novel is set to make a splash. Hachette Aotearoa's new imprint, Moa Press, is publishing the book here, with release in Ireland, Australia and the UK to follow.

The Last Days of Joy is told from the perspective of multiple family members. There's intergenerational trauma revealed through slowly unfolding family secrets. It's fair to compare Tiernan's set-up with those of Marian Keyes and Liane Moriarty, especially Keyes, who, as Tiernan does here, deals with bleak themes by balancing light and dark. That is not to say Tiernan does not have her own voice - she does, and it's salty, tart and generous.