An anarchic and hilarious portrait of a downwardly mobile family in post-crash Dublin
Caoilinn Hughes poems have appeared in Poetry Magazine, Best British Poetry and Poetry Ireland. Her writing has also appeared in The Rumpus and Tin House, and she’s been a recipient of an Irish Arts Council Literary Bursary. She divides her time between her native Ireland and Holland.
‘Highly ambitious… Kick-ass, whip-smart and with “a tongue like a
catapult”, Gael belongs to a venerable tradition of feisty
heroines…readers are going to love her.’
*Sunday Times*
‘Fiercely bright and moves like a bullet train.’
*Sebastian Barry, Costa Book of the Year-winning author of Days
Without End*
‘A remarkable, propulsive debut novel... No precis can adequately
convey the novel’s startling, impressionistic prose, nor its
corrosive humour. Jewels of observation glitter amid the earthy
gags... Exuberant... it zings with energy, ambition and
daring.’
*Times Literary Supplement*
‘Ireland produces a new literary star at a rate of one a month, it
seems; first among equals for 2018, however, has to be Caoilinn
Hughes.’
*Irish Echo*
'Original, clever, and frequently very funny. Hughes's luminescence
is staggering, breezing a determined young Gael from Dublin to
London to New York and back again with scarcely a breath drawn.
Brilliant.'
*Irish Independent, Best Books of 2018*
‘Hugely ambitious and richly inventive.’
*Irish Examiner*
‘Orchid & the Wasp is a gorgeous novel told in an onrush of
wit and ferocity. Art-forging, smack-talking, long-distance-running
Gael Foess, three times smarter than everyone around her, proves to
be an unforgettable heroine, and her journey will rattle your most
basic assumptions about money, ambition, and the nature of love.
Caoilinn Hughes is a massive talent.’
*Anthony Doerr, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of All the Light We
Cannot See*
‘A gem of a debut about the way we live now.’
*Elle*
‘Luminous…sparkles with acuity and concision.... [Gael] is an
indomitable, highly adaptable character who can navigate through
tumultuous times and wildly disparate environments with ingenuity
and grit.’
*Los Angeles Review of Books*
‘Extraordinary… It's a mesmeric, immersive, often hilarious reading
experience, driven by the force of the imagery-rich writing and the
cast of distinctive characters… Asking complicated questions about
meritocracy, Hughes explores the relationship between art and
capitalism, art and ownership, art and authenticity, art and the
gatekeepers of art.’
*Irish Independent*
‘Orchid & the Wasp is this year's Conversations with Friends...
Ambitious, full-bodied and fresh. Hughes casts her unique gaze, her
artistic, analytical and emotional intelligence, on us, not just in
Ireland, but our capitalist world and the personal, political and
social ramifications implicit in our acquiescence to, or indeed,
championing of, its values. Bring Gael back, please.’
*Irish Times*
‘Orchid & the Wasp is an ambitious, richly inventive and
highly entertaining account of the way we live now. Caoilinn Hughes
writes with authority and insight, and her novel is as up-to-date
as tomorrow's financial-page headlines.’
*John Banville, Man Booker Prize-winning author of The Sea*
‘Caoilinn Hughes is the real thing – an urgent, funny, painstaking
and heartfelt writer. Orchid & the Wasp is a startling
debut full of the moral complexity, grief and strange bewilderments
of humanity. As the world spins ever more quickly in response to
the demands of grifters, parasites and liars, this book offers a
troubling, beautiful and wise response.’
*A. L. Kennedy, Costa Prize-winning author of Day and Serious
Sweet*
‘A winning debut novel… Hughes, a poet, touches the prose with a
comic wand… Orchid and the Wasp delivers a fantasy of
competence, the kind that is in dialogue, if not always complete
agreement, with morality.’
*Katy Waldman, The New Yorker*
‘You won't forget Gael Foess.’
*NPR*
‘Dazzling, heady fiction. Hughes is an award-winning poet and it’s
barely concealable. She simply dances on the page, her imagination
is riotous, her flawed characters have shape and colour and
sometimes heartbreaking humanity. When I finished this book I
wanted to return to the start. Immediately. Just to savour it all
again.’
*Sunday Independent*
‘A razor-sharp wit and an astonishing psychological and emotional
perceptiveness combine to yield uncommonly rich portraiture in this
bracing book by a deadly talented writer, in prose so refined one
slows to savour each beautifully unfolding
sentence. Unsentimental, yet sneakily moving and given to
surprising bouts of joy.’
*Matthew Thomas, New York Times bestselling author of We Are Not
Ourselves*
‘Luminous…sparkles with acuity and concision... [Gael] is an
indomitable, highly adaptable character who can navigate through
tumultuous times and wildly disparate environments with ingenuity
and grit.’
*Yoona Lee, LA Review of Books*
'Smart, weird and sexy.'
*Readings, Australia*
‘Extraordinary... This is a difficult novel to do justice to, for
it is brimming with ideas, and the pace of their arrival and
quality of their treatment is
noteworthy... Orchid represents an exciting first step
into prose for Caoilinn Hughes.'
*Oxford Review*
‘This arch début novel's...satiric impulse — toward art-world
hypocrisy, late capitalism, heterosexual love — is unsparing and
ambitious.’
*The New Yorker*
‘Orchid & the Wasp is a hugely entertaining novel full of wit,
intellect and sharp observations. Reading about a young female
character who is not beset by the stereotypical problems
that beset a person her age is refreshing... Caoilinn Hughes
is definitely one to watch.’
*RTE Culture Magazine*
‘Hughes delivers a compelling exploration of what it means to
create art, skewering the arbitrary restrictions of art-world
gatekeepers along the way. At the emotional heart of this book lies
a darker question, though: What does it mean to make a performance
of your own life, in service of your family, when the cost might be
to lose them forever? As strange, musical, and carefully calculated
as its unusual heroine.’
*Kirkus*
‘From first glances looks like it might be the smart, funny,
scathing and profound take on the whole Celtic Tiger madness we’ve
been waiting for.’
*Fintan O'Toole*
‘A remarkable debut novel... intellectual fiction that provides a
bracing and occasionally withering account of upper echelon Irish
life.’
*Sunday Business Post*
'The people around me must be just about sick of hearing me rave
about this book. I believe Caoilinn Hughes is in the early stages
of a career that will see her lauded more and more in decades to
come. Reading this book in 2018 was like a slap in the face,
reminding me that the rules of fiction can always be rewritten... I
don’t know if it made me want to write fiction or give up before I
ever started, because she’s just that good.'
*Bri Lee, author of Eggshell Skull*
‘Beautiful and breathtaking language [is] peppered throughout this
wonderful novel... It’s funny as hell in places and the characters
will stick with you long after you’ve finished the final page. It’s
nothing short of brilliant.’
*Rick O'Shea, RTE broadcaster*
‘A supremely funny and uncommonly visual novel by Caoilinn Hughes
in that rich comic seam where precocious youth confronts derilect
adulthood. A lifetime's supply of witty comebacks in a book that
reinvents how everything is described.’
*Rónán Hession, author of Leonard and Hungry Paul*
‘Caoilinn Hughes’ sharp and, at times, hilarious observations call
to mind the unblinking writing and dysfunctional families not only
of Jane Austen, but also Christina Stead and Jonathan Franzen. The
full cast of characters is memorable and original, but Gael in
particular challenges and charms. Orchid & the Wasp is a
deceptively entertaining novel about merit and ambition, society
and responsibility, and self-determination and fate, in which
Hughes upends expectations and asks big questions, especially about
obligation and love, without breaking stride, even for a
moment.’
*Readings Monthly*
‘Fresh, playful and exuberant: Hughes has arrived with a heady
style that is full of surprise and invention.’
*Paul Lynch, Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year-winning author of
Grace*
‘Debut novelist Hughes, an award-winning poet, employs wry,
crackling prose to proffer existential questions about what
constitutes a meaningful life... This inventive book will entice
readers who prefer the ambiguity of questions to the simplicity of
answers.’
*Library Journal*
‘Gael, the young heroine of Orchid & the Wasp, is a magnificent and
assured creation, breathtakingly smart, never self-pitying,
impossible for others to manage, my favorite discovery this year.
Hughes' characters are rare, like no one you've read before. This
is an entirely original novel, dazzling and beautiful, disturbingly
cold and insistent.’
*David Vann, author of Legend of a Suicide*
‘An ambitious and lyrical debut with an unforgettable heroine.’
*Largehearted Boy*
‘Caoilinn Hughes’s debut novel, Orchid & the Wasp, has the
fluid gait of something alive… At once exuberant and incisive,
Hughes’s writing escapes simple characterization while somehow
remaining welcoming… This is not simply a coming-of-age tale, nor
is it an experiment in narrative philosophy. What is it, then? I’m
not sure, other than that it’s something new.’
*Taylor Lannamann, Tin House*
‘[A] visceral and electrifying debut… In Gael, Hughes has created a
mesmerizing and compelling force.’
*Booklist*
‘A dark but highly amusing coming-of-age story... Prize-winning
Irish poet, Caoilinn Hughes has written a stunningly ambitious
debut novel, revealing a considerable talent. If this is a
beginning, she is destined for literary greatness.’
*Bookjotter*
‘Orchid & the Wasp is a tremendously engaging novel, brimming
with sparky humour and astute observations. Caoilinn Hughes' prose
fizzes with wit and intelligence. A joy to read.’
*Danielle McLaughlin, Saboteur Award-wining author of Dinosaurs on
Other Planets*
‘The excellent debut novel from Irish poet Caoilinn Hughes sees a
compelling female protagonist navigate social upheaval in the wake
of the financial crisis, as well as dealing with a complex family
life… Orchid & the Wasp is the antithesis of the Irish
coming-of-age story. Far removed from the tale of a young girl
learning Catholic guilt before shrugging it off, Hughes upended it
right from the first page… The novel also has a Franzenesque
flair for showing the interconnectedness of western society.’
*Hot Press*
‘In lush, envy-inducing prose we’re introduced to Gael Foess, the
spikiest adult-in-training since Lolita, who has parents worthy of
a Roald Dahl novel, in their poor caretaking efforts and
self-absorption. We can only hang on in wonder as we witness the
savvy Gael’s progression through life from such beginnings.
Caoilinn Hughes’ crafted, intricate language is a joy and her
characters strut their many flaws with panache. Orchid & the
Wasp is an up-to-the-minute, radiant debut from a deeply
talented writer.’
*Nuala O’Connor, author of Miss Emily*
‘Caoilinn Hughes has given us an unforgettable character in Gael –
an unflinchingly wise and wise-cracking guide through our fractured
times. Hers is a story that holds the fun-house mirror to the
society we have built of greed and twisted finance. From the doomed
Irish boom to the Occupy movement, the novel lays bare the
impoverished spirit that led to economic collapse while providing
us a path out of it. By turns poetic, hilarious and raw, this novel
gives us hope that love and the retrieval of spirit are not only
achievable, but worth pursuing to the very last sentence.’
*Ana Menéndez, Pushcart Prize-winning author of In Cuba I Was a
German Shepherd*
‘Though the stories she tells work their way through elaborate
worlds, it is her characters, detailed with sharp and subtle
grace, which power the engine of Caoilinn Hughes's vivid
prose.’
*Amelia Gray, author of Isadora and Gutshot*
‘Hughes is an exciting writer who has rightfully attracted a lot of
buzz for her debut, and this is sure to be one of my novels of the
year.’
*Bookish Beck, blogger review*
‘The novel showcases Hughes's talent as both a shrewd student of
character and an astute observer of contemporary
life...[introducing] one of those literary characters whose life is
so vividly depicted it's easy to imagine it continuing beyond the
last page of this refreshingly honest novel.’
*Shelf Awareness*
'Sensational'
*Marie Claire (France)*
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