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The Wardrobe Department

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The Wardrobe Department

By: Elaine Garvey
Narrated by: Denise Gough
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SHORTLISTED FOR THE KERRY GROUP IRISH NOVEL OF THE YEAR AWARD
AN IRISH TIMES DEBUT AUTHOR TO LOOK OUT FOR 2025

‘Beautifully written’ LOUISE KENNEDY
‘Full of verve and wit and humanity’ MARY COSTELLO
‘Clever and original’ TLS
‘A tremendous new talent’ KEVIN BARRY

Mairéad works tirelessly in a run-down West End theatre’s wardrobe department – mending shoes, fixing broken zips and even handwashing underwear. She must also sidestep groping hands backstage and withstand the relentless bullying of the show’s producer.

The job was meant to be the first step towards the life Mairéad has always wanted, and yet half of her remains back home in Ireland, along with everything she abandoned there.

A reckoning with the past is coming and, with it, the need to forge a new present – one stitch at a time.

 Genre Fiction Literary Fiction World Literature
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Critic reviews

"Astutely observed and beautifully written. I rooted for Mairéad all the way to the end of this impressive debut" (LOUISE KENNEDY)
"Elaine Garvey is a tremendous new talent in Irish writing - I'm certain the reader will recognise inside half a page that she's the real thing" (KEVIN BARRY)
"The Wardrobe Department is at once familiar and surprising, knotty and tender, tough and beguiling, and its author a sure hand with a light touch . . . Garvey [is] one of those enviable writers whose piercing eye for human contradiction and self-sabotage never dims her affection for the souls she's so beautifully painted" (LISA McINERNEY)
"Clever and original"
"Refreshing . . . Garvey excels is placing her heroine in the heart of a busy home, surrounded by people she’s known since childhood, but among whom she feels utterly alone . . . Timely . . . Witty" (JOHN BOYNE)
"A truly beautiful novel. Mairéad is an unforgettable character, revealed in tender, sharp, emotional prose. Garvey's sentences form a delicate pattern, the structure flawless, drawing the reader into the hidden world of London theatre and rural Ireland through complex relationships that question what it means to belong. The Wardrobe Department is that rare thing, already a classic. Garvey is an exquisite talent" (OLIVIA FITZSIMONS)
"The Wardrobe Department . . . will deservedly be one of next spring's most fashionable titles. Set in the beautifully realised world of a London theatre's costume department, with an interlude in the west of Ireland, its protagonist Mairéad is someone to believe in" (MARTIN DOYLE)
"Whether she’s detailing the drama of an Irish funeral or the panic of a backstage emergency, Garvey’s control of tone and voice is faultless"
"The Wardrobe Department is full of verve and wit and humanity. In writing that is sharp and sassy, Garvey captures perfectly the complexities and heartbreak of a young woman's life and the great pull and push of home" (MARY COSTELLO)
"Very well done . . . Elaine Garvey . . . is especially good at dialogue, with a witty, often biting turn of phrase"
All stars
Most relevant
Is this the best book I’ve ever read no. But it’s ok.
It’s character driven with a very explicit beginning middle and end. I enjoyed that the main character was very 3 dimensional as was the mother. I felt that I knew where the book was going so there were no major surprises. And ok read

The wardrobe department

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Masterful on every level -Garvey is up there with all the brilliant new Irish and British novelists of this decade.

Masterpiece

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