The Troubles with Us: One Belfast Girl on Boys, Bombs and Finding Her Way cover art

The Troubles with Us: One Belfast Girl on Boys, Bombs and Finding Her Way

One Belfast Girl on Boys, Bombs and Finding Her Way

Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Unlimited access to our all-you-can-listen catalogue of 15K+ audiobooks and podcasts
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

The Troubles with Us: One Belfast Girl on Boys, Bombs and Finding Her Way

By: Alix O’Neill
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

About this listen

Derry Girls meets David Sedaris’ Elske Rahill

‘The writing is full of energy and originality’ Irish Times

Growing up on the Falls Road in 1990s Belfast, Alix O'Neill has seen it all – burnt-out buses blocking the route to school, the police mistaking her father for a leading terrorist. Not that she or her friends are up to speed with the goings-on of the resistance. They’re too preoccupied with the obsessions of every teenage girl – booze, boys and Boyzone – to worry about the violence on their doorstep.

Desperate to leave Northern Ireland and the trials of her mother’s unorthodox family – a loving yet eccentric band of misfits – behind, she makes grand plans for the next stage. But it’s through these relationships and their gradual unravelling that Alix begins to appreciate not only the troubled history of where she comes from, but the strength of its women.

Warm, embarrassing and full of love and insight, The Troubles with Us is a hilarious and moving account of the madness and mundanities of life in Northern Ireland during the thirty-year conflict. It's a story of mothers and daughters, the fallout from things left unsaid and the lengths a girl will go to for fake tan.

21st Century Europe Great Britain Modern Relationships Funny Witty Comedy

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Mess We're In cover art
A Young Lady's Miscellany cover art
Double Agent cover art
Paperboy: An Enchanting True Story of a Belfast Paperboy Coming to Terms with the Troubles cover art
I'm Glad My Mom Died cover art
War and an Irish Town cover art
Rebel cover art
Darcy Comes Home cover art
The Promise cover art
The Rachel Incident cover art
Belfast Gate cover art
The Village Vicar cover art
The Reunion cover art
Are We Home Yet? cover art
Nothing Left Unsaid cover art

Critic reviews

‘We cannot recommend that you read this memoir enough – short of stopping people in the street and pressing it into their hands, we really urge you just to order it online right now. Right this moment’ STYLIST

‘O’Neill has produced a literary equivalent of Derry Girls’ Charlie Connelly, The New European

‘A charming book, by turns caustic and funny, innocent and canny’ The Mail on Sunday

‘The writing is full of energy and originality. One can only imagine what good company O’Neill is in person . . . this book is genuine and funny with insights into Northern Ireland’s evolution through the 1980s and 1990s into something like peace’ Sinéad O’Shea, Irish Times

‘It was a joy to spend time in O’Neill’s world, and the irresistible sense of fun she sparked could have led me on to read many more stories about her family life . . . equal parts hilarious, moving and compelling’ Emer O'Hanlon, Irish Independent

Derry Girls meets David Sedaris – a sound dose of social history served with all the lightness and humour of an after-work cocktail’ Elske Rahill, author of An Unravelling

‘This is a brassy, ballsy, belter of a book – full of the real grit of what it means to come from Northern Ireland . . . From sexy toy petrol stations to mortifying period chats with yer swearing ma – from Gerry Adams on the telly to naming your goats in an attempt at bridging the political divide – from burning a placenta the weekend of the twelfth to portakabin penance with Tamagotchis: this book will turn your views on the Troubles upside down. O'Neill writes the North like no one else I have encountered; with wit, humour and pure affection’ Kerri ní Dochartaigh, author of Thin Places

All stars
Most relevant
Loved this book. Funny, revealing. What a story about growing up in Northern Ireland interwoven with family drama and intrigue. Highly recommend.

Great read

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Just listened to this and can’t wait to listen again. Growing up in roughly the same period as the author I can relate 100% to this. Has “The Cres” right down to a T. Bloody brilliant. Well done Alix, it’s a bloody cracker.

Love from A 50 year old ex snobby bastard BT 9er

Bang on. Great craic

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Funny and heartfelt story, really enjoyed it. The author does a good job reading as well.

Funny and heartfelt

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Growing up in Belfast this is a must listen!
I hear & recognise so many places.
Funny, true, sad all sorts! I loved it & have recommended it to all my friends who will also recognise the places and some people.

Brilliant

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Relatable, nostalgic and honest. Wonderful. Takes me right back to childhood and unashamedly my points out key events in NI history. Will leave you smiling, laughing, reflecting and remembering. Thank you Alix O’Neill.

Relatable, nostalgic and honest. Wonderful.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews