The Rachel Incident

The international bestseller: a hilarious, heartfelt story of all-consuming and unexpected love

Shortlisted for a TikTok Book Award - Book of the Year (UK and Ireland)

Shortlisted for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction

If you've ever been young, you will love The Rachel Incident like I did - GABRIELLE ZEVIN

Funny, nostalgic, sexy - MONICA HEISEY

Hilarious, wise and wonderfully written - GRAHAM NORTON

Everyone in Cork remembers the Rachel Incident. But what really happened? It's simple. It's complicated. It's about love, sex and friendship. It's definitely about betrayal. And, above all, it's the story of Rachel and James, two twenty-somethings who met at a bookshop, became best friends, and spent one unforgettable year screwing up and growing up.

I adored it - COCO MELLORS

Reading it is like hearing your funniest, sexiest friend tell you the best story they know - KATHERINE RUNDELL

Sharply witty, warm-hearted and wise - GUARDIAN

O'Donoghue captures all the intensity of messy young love - MAIL ON SUNDAY

A book full of love, and it is extremely easy to love reading it - VOGUE

Chaos at its finest - STYLIST

Easily 13/10... Funny, lovely, romantic - MARIAN KEYES

The Rachel Incident was a #2 bestseller in Ireland in June 2023.