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The Wardrobe Department
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Brief Description
A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST DEBUT OF 2025 Mairéad works all hours in a run-down West End theatre's wardrobe department, her whole existence made up of threads and needles, running errands to mend shoes, fixing broken zips, and handwashing underwear. She must also do her best to...
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The Wardrobe Department
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Description
A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST DEBUT OF 2025
Mairéad works all hours in a run-down West End theatre's wardrobe department, her whole existence made up of threads and needles, running errands to mend shoes, fixing broken zips, and handwashing underwear. She must also do her best to avoid groping hands backstage and the terrible bullying of the show's producer.
But, despite her skill and growing experience, half of Mairéad remains in her windy, hedge-filled home in Ireland, and the life she abandoned there. In noughties London, she has the potential to be somebody completely new—why, then, does she feel so stuck? Between the bustling side streets of Soho, and the wet grass of Leitrim and Donegal, Mairéad is caught, running from the girl she was but unable to reveal the woman she'd hoped to become.
Told with rare honesty and equal measures of warmth and bite, The Wardrobe Department is a story about reckoning with the past, finding the courage to change the present—and asking what comes next.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781837260195
Publisher: Canongate Books
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 13 February 2025
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Canongate Books
Edition: Export/Airside - Export/Airside/Ireland
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 18.0mm
Width: 140.0mm
Height: 220.0mm
Weight: 248g
Pages: 240
About the Author
Elaine Garvey is from Co. Sligo, Ireland. She completed an M.Phil. in Creative Writing in Trinity College, Dublin in 2000. Her short stories have been published in the Dublin Review and Winter Papers. She has worked as a programme co-ordinator at the Stinging Fly, was awarded an agility grant for her writing and has recently been selected as a participant on a basic income scheme for artists by the Irish Department of Arts. The Wardrobe Department is her first novel.
Also by Elaine Garvey
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The Wardrobe Department
A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST DEBUT OF 2025 Mairéad works all hours in a run-down West End theatre's wardrobe department, her whole existence made up of threads and needles, running errands to mend shoes, fixing broken zips and handwashing underwear. She must also do her best to avoid groping hands backstage and the terrible bullying of the show's producer. But, despite...Hardback$6700Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 2-3 weeks -
The Wardrobe Department
AN IRISH TIMES DEBUT AUTHOR TO LOOK OUT FOR 2025 'Beautifully written' LOUISE KENNEDY 'Full of verve and wit and humanity' MARY COSTELLO 'Clever and original' TLS 'A tremendous new talent' KEVIN BARRY The Wardrobe Department follows Mairéad, who works tirelessly in a run-down West End theatre's wardrobe department—mending shoes, fixing broken zips, and even handwashing underwear. She must also...Paperback$2799Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks
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