The author of Irish Book Awards Book of the Year 2014 "Academy Street" returns with this story of a man retreating to the countryside and into books, longing for a return to his family's heyday. A young woman arrives at the door one day bringing potentially profound consequences with her. A homage to James Joyce, engaging with themes of loyalty, nature and the redemptive power of art.

Mary Costello lives in Galway. Her short story collection, The China Factory (2012), was nominated for the Guardian First Book Award and shortlisted for an Irish Book Award. Her first novel, Academy Street (2014), won the Irish Novel of the Year Award at the Irish Book Awards and was named overall Irish Book of the Year. It was serialised on BBC Radio 4's Book at Bedtime and was shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award, the Costa First Novel Prize, the EU Prize for Literature and the Prix Littéraire des Ambassadeurs de la Francophonie en Irlande, and has been translated into several languages. The River Capture is her second novel.