Two women wrenched apart by a family member’s disappearance must find a way back to each other in this haunting page-turner by the author of A Crooked Tree

Nessa Garvey’s sister Deena vanished without a trace from suburban Philadelphia in 2004. In all that time, Nessa has never once doubted what her instincts told her: her sister’s ex-husband has gotten away with an unspeakable crime.

Nessa’s niece, Ruby, is raised by her father, the man Nessa suspects, in rural Vermont, on the shores of Lake Champlain. Ruby learns how to hunt, how the plants and trees grow, how to avoid making her father angry. The one question she longs to ask is the one she knows she cannot voice: What really happened to her mother?

Over fourteen years, four hundred miles apart, these two women slowly begin to unearth the family history of insidious power and control that has shaped them both in such different ways. But can they reach each other in time?

Tell Me What I Am is a riveting, indelible tour de force of buried secrets and unlikely resilience.

‘This beautiful, haunting novel beats with the heart of a thriller, but is so much more. Una Mannion is a writer of extraordinary talent, compassion and power.’

Louise Kennedy, author of Trespasses
‘Sharp, poignant, thrilling and moving . . . . Tell Me What I Am is the kind of richly drawn, achingly atmospheric crime novel you can totally immerse yourself in.’

Chris Whitaker, New York Times bestselling author of We Begin at the End
'Very VERY good. About the impact on her family when a woman disappears, it's vividly real. The writing is beautiful, the emotions are conveyed exquisitely. There's love here as well as pain.’

Marian Keyes, New York Times bestselling author of Sushi for Beginners and Grown Ups

‘I tore through this book with my heart in my throat, desperate to know what happens, but also not wanting it to end. It's the perfect combination of really good writing, a propulsive plot, and fully realized characters. I'll read anything Una Mannion writes.’

Mary Beth Keane, New York Times bestselling author of Ask Again, Yes and The Half Moon
'The voices of our two protagonists are so authentic, the characterisation so real, that I followed their quest like a newshound. The writing is exquisite, the plotting is intricate and the story is utterly compelling. I loved it.

Liz Nugent, author of Strange Sally Diamond
‘Mannion expertly intertwines Nessa and Ruby’s stories via visceral, close-third-person narration that alternates perspectives, and weaves through time to build tension and dole out reveals. Her subtly shaded characters add nuance and poignancy. This artful slow burn should earn Mannion new fans.’

Starred Review in Publishers’ Weekly

Reviews

‘[an] outstanding mystery […] Mannion expertly intertwines Nessa and Ruby’s stories via visceral, close-third-person narration that alternates perspectives, and weaves through time to build tension and dole out reveals. Her subtly shaded characters add nuance and poignancy. This artful slow burn should earn Mannion new fans.’ Starred Review in Publishers’ Weekly

https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780063314771

‘Mannion creates an emotionally charged yet gently paced thriller that evokes the doubt and anguish that arise after uncertain loss.’ Starred Review in Booklist [1st July 2023] Tell Me What I Am, by By Una Mannion. | Booklist Online

‘Unfolding between 1998 and 2018, the novel skilfully shifts back and forth across this timeline and between characters’ perspectives. Its tense, uneasy mood is evoked through a largely spare style … Tell Me What I Am has the momentum of a thriller, but Mannion’s literary sensibility firmly elevates it beyond the confines of genre fiction.’ The Sunday Business Post Book review: Tell Me What I Am is an unsettling thriller with a literary sensibility | Business Post

‘Stitching the seams of a taut psychological thriller into a work of luminous, evocative literary fiction is no small task […] This reader would simply call Mannion’s second novel a moving and exquisitely wrought story of the horrors of coercive control and, ironically, of how the ties that bind can transpire to be the keys to freedom.’ The Sunday Independent Review of Tell Me What I Am by Una Mannion | Independent.ie

‘A compelling portrait of an Irish American family fractured by domestic abuse . . . Mannion writes with a lyrical economy that stands out, and always shows a deep empathy for her well-drawn characters.’ Irish Examiner https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/artsandculture/arid-41153881.html

‘A wrenching portrait of the umbilical bond between mother and child and, more powerfully still, an icily persuasive account of the subtle dark arts of male coercion and abuse.’ Daily Mail
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/books/article-12175067/LITERARY-FICTION.html

‘A sure-footed and emotionally complex novel […] Her language is beautifully descriptive while the story has all the pacy elements of a thriller.’ The Irish Times https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/review/2023/06/03/tell-me-what-i-am-by-una-mannion-alleviating-the-darkness-with-kindness/

‘A haunting and deeply moving portrayal of the complexities of domestic abuse, family relationships and grief.’ Observer
https://www.theguardian.com/profile/hannah-beckerman

‘Propulsive and richly atmospheric . . . a coming-of-age story with the plot and foreboding energy of a thriller . . . The sense of place is exemplary.’ Irish Independent
https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/books/book-reviews/tell-me-what-i-am-by-una-mannion-coming-of-age-tale-with-the-plot-and-energy-of-a-thriller/a311379024.html

Two women wrenched apart by a family member’s disappearance must find a way back to each other in this haunting page-turner by the author of A Crooked Tree

‘This beautiful, haunting novel beats with the heart of a thriller, but is so much more. Una Mannion is a writer of extraordinary talent, compassion and power.’

‘Sharp, poignant, thrilling and moving . . . . Tell Me What I Am is the kind of richly drawn, achingly atmospheric crime novel you can totally immerse yourself in.’

'Very VERY good. About the impact on her family when a woman disappears, it's vividly real. The writing is beautiful, the emotions are conveyed exquisitely. There's love here as well as pain.’

‘I tore through this book with my heart in my throat, desperate to know what happens, but also not wanting it to end. It's the perfect combination of really good writing, a propulsive plot, and fully realized characters. I'll read anything Una Mannion writes.’

'The voices of our two protagonists are so authentic, the characterisation so real, that I followed their quest like a newshound. The writing is exquisite, the plotting is intricate and the story is utterly compelling. I loved it.

Reviews