A Sunday Times, Irish Times and The Journal Most Anticipated Book of 2024
Habitat follows seven neighbours over the course of a surreal and life-changing week as their mid-century apartment building in Oslo begins to inexplicably break down around them.
Connected by familial ties, long acquaintance, simmering feuds and longing glimpses, the residents of the building are bound to one another in more ways than they know. As each inhabitant is touched by strange and sinister phenomena, and their apartment-sized worlds begin to fray at the seams, they struggle to grasp that this is a shared crisis that cannot be borne alone.
This remarkable debut novel from one of IrelandÕs most promising emerging talents is a startling parable of our uncertain age, as well as a beautiful and inciteful examination of how we deal with seismic events beyond our comprehension and how we can only truly find meaning through shared understanding.
The building components give their own take on being used for the purposes of these people, their voices containing the longer perspective of materials that existed before the building, and which will survive in some form beyond its destruction.
"There are deep troughs in coastal woods where our skeletal grains once lay. We were poured into moulds, and we set, gripping rods of steel. We cling, but it is you who fear, who must be kept apart from members of your species who are not your family. We rest our edges on walls of bricks, transferring our load, the load of you and your possessions. You have no plan for us after this. Your thoughts will crumble with us."
PRAISE FOR HABITAT BY CATRIONA SHINE
'Shine's gaze is fresh, observant and unsettling. Habitat is an inventive and compelling read, a remarkable debut from an immensely talented writer.' Danielle McLaughlin
'Shine is definitely one to watch in 2024.' Aoife Barry, The Journal One to watch in 2024.
'Her plot immediately makes her stand out from the crowd.' The Sunday Times
'A thrilling Oslo mystery rich in satire, but also full of empathy.' Alannah Hopkin, Irish Examiner
'Highly original, It's far too well-written and engaging to be depressing. But it is a tiny bit terrifying.' Anne Cunningham, Meath Chronicle
'A wonderfully realised exploration of the way we live, enlivened by sharply drawn characters, great use of dark humour and an overall empathy for the human condition. It is a debut that stands out and marks Shine as a real talent to watch.' Cathy, 746 Books
'It's a wonderful oddity when a debut novel is truly uncategorisable, trailblazing with no comparisons readily available É Shine is tapping into the zeitgeist here in Ireland' Aimie Walsh, RTÉ
'Bringing her own knowledge of building materials and her skill as a writer together, Shine has created a very unsettling and imaginative tale that really is quite frightening in our current environmental crisis É Habitat is a penetrating and striking novel, intelligent and convincing.' Mairead Hearne, Swirl and Thread
