Three women: Jasmine, running away from her drunken mother in rural Ireland in the early 1980s; Ali, an American teenager whose mother has just died tragically, and an unnamed doctor in Dublin, torn between her career and her commitment to care for her elderly mother.  I’m not sure whether it’s a pattern becoming entrenched in writing generally, or just a fluke occurrence in many of the books I have read recently, but here we have another narrative following three different characters until it is revealed how their lives intersect. This book falls into this category, but while we might sometimes have preferences across three equal stories in this book it feels as though the author has a favourite child, and only Jasmine’s story is given sufficient room to breathe.

Jasmine’s story is rollicking, with tense and gritty scenes in London and Dublin, although there are shades of Million Dollar Baby in the boxing mentoring storyline that develops, and a coach who is a tad too pure and wise to ring true. The central female characters are the best written, but among the various people who cross their paths Aidan (a truly horrible, uniquely Catholic sanctimonious git) is particularly well drawn.  The scenes relating to the horror that is the mother and child homes that are a shame on Ireland’s history are also deftly evoked. While there are elements of this book I liked, it felt very uneven – much like an actual braid, if one of the three strands is thicker it all starts to fall apart.

A History of Running Away is published by John Murray. I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

It’s a bit of a well-worn device these days to have novels which deal with separate characters, who turn out be linked in some way and everything’s tied up neatly at the end. Sometimes it works, but I felt that this time the device was rather tired. This second novel from Irish writer Paula McGrath admittedly has some original storylines (one of which involves a woman boxer) but overall offers the reader nothing new. The three women here are all separated by time and place and all are trying to escape their circumstances and battle a society that seems to thwart them at every turn. Each feels imprisoned to a certain extent and feels the need to run away. I didn’t find the women all that compelling, although overall the book is well-written and well-paced. It just felt very ordinary to me and I remained unengaged.

A History of Running Away has three story threads.
In 2012 a Dublin doctor weighs up an offer of a post in London. It’s a step-up career- wise and nearer her boyfriend, but would mean moving away from her mother who is in a nursing home.
In Maryland, Ali, now alone since the recent death of her mother, blows town with a crowd of bikers she barely knows.
Thirty years earlier, teenage Jasmine has finally given up on her drink and drug addled widowed mother, and left her rural Irish town for the bright lights of London.
This is a warm and thoughtful debut novel from Paula McGrath. Each story is authentic and entertaining, but the special touch is the way in which they are linked. The overarching theme of women’s choice is skilfully and frankly presented. There are some very kind strangers about, but even so, no descent into mawkishness

A tale of 3 strong and feisty women. told from different points of view and different time frames and different places what links them if anything? I'm not going to tell you, this is a book you will have to read to find out, and it is a beautifully written, well crafted book and well worth spending your time on,its poignant, the characters are well fleshed out and it is believable. Its really different to most of the books I read and I am the richer for reading it and I can only say, put aside some time, enough to read and enjoy this well written book,and I don't think you will be sorry.I am grateful to the publishers and Netgalley for an ARC in return for an honest review.

I confess I had some difficulty engaging with the first part of this book and its grim events. Running away from home at a young age and with no support, no matter from how intolerable a situation, is not for sissies. There is a big, scary world out there. Well worth my persevering, though, as the characters began to grow on me and I became really quite involved in their predicaments. These are women stifled by convention or circumstance, and hoping to find a way to live more freely. Perfectly paced and structured, it packs quite an emotional punch and, with some clever interweaving of individuals’ stories, it all comes to a satisfying conclusion. Not too neat and full of hope for their futures.

I’ve read some great fiction coming out of Ireland lately and this novel is up there with the best. With many thanks to John Murray Publishers via NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

A History of Running Away is a striking and unforgettable novel with three different narratives that weave their way to show how running away can help you find homes you never knew you had. The most substantial of these is Jasmine’s attempts in the 1980s to escape her small town Irish home for a big city, which does not go as planned. The other two are set in 2012 and follow a gynaecologist dealing with the pressures of working in an Irish hospital and worrying about her ill mother and a girl in Maryland running away after the death of her mother. These stories unfold in a gripping and honest way, showing how finding out who you are can be a difficult process.

McGrath’s writing makes for a tense read. The book’s structure, cutting between the narratives but allowing for a large amount of Jasmine’s to run through the centre of the book, draws comparisons between the acts of running away whilst allowing the characters’ other connections to come through. The novel’s backdrop is the political and social events of the worlds in which the characters live, from Irish abortion laws in the present day to racism and gender restrictions in 1980s Dublin. It is a book that doesn’t shy away from the issues that the characters face, but also doesn’t define them by those issues.

Jasmine’s narrative is the most engaging, as her story is followed through her repeated running away and attempts to work out what she wants to do and whether it is even possible to achieve those goals. Her friendship with Nigerian medical student George as he teaches her to box is a particular highlight, showing how an unlikely acquaintance can have a huge influence.

A History of Running Away is a fantastic read for anybody who enjoys well-written, character-centred books, particularly those which span time periods to show common themes and social issues, and those which focus upon a variety of women.

(Note: review will be posted on my blog closer to the release date)