The Tide

About the Book

When Michael jumps into the Thames it is only the beginning of his story. He is about to embark on an journey that will take him from London to the west of Ireland. The people he meets and the discoveries he makes along the way will help him turn his life around.

Michael is nineteen and lives with his grandmother Margaret, but when she dies his fragile world falls apart. After a stay in a hostel he sets off or Ireland determined to find Margaret's old house in Connemara. The house is a place he associates with happy childhood holidays before his mother left.

Narrated in Michael's highly individual voice The Tide is the story of a young man making sense of the world, coming back from the brink and embracing life again.



About the Author :
Mark Tuohy is an award-winning playwright (Bush Theatre New Playwright Award) and an established writer of radio drama for the BBC including Supermarket Kisses, The Lights, This Is My Car Park, The Milk Race and Westway a continuing drama series on the World Service. He has more recently focused on writing novels. The Tide is his first novel and his second, Tiny Stars, is due to be published in 2022. He is also a musician and lives in Cumbria.

Review :
'Mark Tuohy's first novel The Tide packs a powerful punch. ... Tuohy's rhythmic, stream-of-consciousness narrative is a poignant and compelling account of a young man's struggle against the chaos of his world. In Michael he has created a memorable and loveable character, impressively stoical, good humoured, compassionate and sane, despite the painful trials of his short life. ... Watch this writer; he's at work on his second novel, and we've a feeling that he has a future.'-Books Ireland 'With his first novel, one-time community worker Mark Tuohy has created a convincing, low-key account of a young man confronting his past in an effort to throw off the shackles of mental illness. ... Tuohy's promising debut is moving, insightful and compelling.'-The List 'Mark Tuohy's impressive debut novel is light on full stops and while initially this narrative dislocation is off-putting, by the end of the book it becomes an indispensable part of the reader's established empathy with Michael, the cleverly drawn central character... The Tide is a very wellcrafted book and the knowledge of the inner consciousness of what is often euphemistically referred to as "troubled youth" is hugely impressive.' - Irish Book Review 'Described from Michael's perspective, the narrative has a sense of expediency, tumult and simultaneous delicacy that convincingly establishes this boy's confusion and innocence. ... In this resonating first novel, Tuohy has created a character that doesn't falter as he is brought back from the precipice to try his hand at life again, one that remains refreshingly true throughout...'-Irish Independent 'An exceptional new novel... Although a suicide bid doesn't usually evoke humour, or indeed hope, Mark handles the subject with compassion and a subtle wit that makes this book really quite special.... The Tide had me weeping and giggling (sometimes simultaneously).'- Irish World 'Genuinely moving moments abound, plucked from the ceaseless flow of Michael's thoughts... In Michael, Tuohy has created a memorable character; lost and damaged and cast out on the edge of things, brought to the brink of despair and slowly finding the strength within himself to leave the past behind and move on. ....'-Dermot Bolger, Sunday Tribune