Cork City Libraries’ One City One Book is an initiative to get book loving Corkonians to read and discuss the same book. Individuals, groups, book clubs, workplaces and organisations are encouraged to take part in building a sense of community throughout the city, promoting literacy, supporting the arts and encouraging everyone to engage in reading. It takes the idea of a localised book discussion club and expands it to cover the whole city.

This year’s book is The Art of Falling by Danielle McLaughlin. It was published in January 2021 by John Murray Publishers and has received critical acclaim. MC for the event is Sue Leonard.

“This is not a debut in the usual sense; a promise of greater things to come. There is no need to ask what Danielle McLaughlin will do next, she has done it already. This book has arrived. I think it will stay with us for a long time.” Anne Enright

“Full of such arresting, resonant and precise writing … an impressive achievement.” Financial Times

“Taut with words unsaid and fights unhad, and the endings are all that endings should be.” Metro

Nessa McCormack’s marriage is coming back together again after her husband’s affair. She is excited to be in charge of a retrospective art exhibit for one of Ireland’s most beloved and enigmatic artists, the late sculptor Robert Locke. But the arrival of two outsiders imperils both her personal and professional worlds: a chance encounter with an old friend threatens to expose a betrayal Nessa thought she had long put behind her, and at work, an odd woman comes forward claiming to be the true creator of Robert Locke’s most famous work, The Chalk Sculpture.

As Nessa finds the past intruding on the present, she must decide whether she can continue to live a lie – or whether she’s ready to face the consequences once everything is out in the open. In this gripping debut, Danielle McLaughlin reveals profound truths about love, power, and the secrets that rule us.

Danielle McLaughlin is the author of the short story collection Dinosaurs on Other Planets. In 2019, she was a Windham-Campbell Prize recipient, and won the Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award. She lives in County Cork, Ireland, with her husband and three children. The Art of Falling is her first novel.