A Beautiful Loan

Author: Mary Costello

Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)

Published on 12 March 2026 by Canongate Books in the United Kingdom.

Hardback | 224 pages
143 x 224 x 23 | 330g

My name is Anna, and for some time now, I have been trying to account for certain events in my life - my adult life, that is - which, from this vantage point of forty-five years, I often find baffling . . .

In 1985 Dublin, nineteen-year-old Anna Hughes is in thrall to Peter Gallagher, an older, worldly man. Anna is introverted and naïve, and Peter's experience, wide circle of friends and thirst for adventure captivate her. Her obsessive longing for him leads to marriage and, eventually, a crushing betrayal.

As Anna's life becomes less predictable, she uncovers deeper layers of herself. Her journey gives an intimate portrait of a woman embracing herself as she is, claiming the life she yearns for.