Shortlisted in the Hot Press reader’s poll for best book of the year, The Last Days of Joy is an immersive and powerful book, marking Anne Tiernan’s debut as a novelist, and is already an international bestseller.

When the titular lead Joy, a mother in her late 60s, attempts to take her own life, her adult children, Conor, Frances and Sinead, receive the news that she only has days to live. The three of them, each at a crossroads in their lives, rush to Joy’s side, setting up the perfect scene to bring up the dysfunction and pain of their childhood.

The book tells a story of forgiveness and complex relationships in the wake of a family tragedy, always with a gripping style and sharp humour. The characters are incredibly moving and compelling, making the plot as tear-jerking as it is funny.

In a 2023 Hot Press interview, Tiernan evoked the unintentional autobiographical elements of The Last Days of Joy:

“My mum took her own life in 2010, and I was pregnant with my third child at the time. I went into labour when I heard the news, and I gave birth to him the day after. So obviously I couldn’t come back for the funeral and ended up watching that on a video screen.

“I think a lot of people during Covid had that experience of not being able to say goodbye to their loved ones. I couldn’t come home until a few weeks later.

“I felt a geographical distance from my mother, but there was also an emotional distance too. She was someone who struggled a lot with life and motherhood. So, I didn’t really grieve her death at all. Then in 2017, when I decided I was going to write a book, all I had was an image in my head of a woman in a coma, surrounded by her three children. And there was a lot of conflict and ambivalence in that scenario.”

Watch Anne Tiernan’s ‘My Reading of It’ of her debut novel The Last Days of Joy below: