For readers of Colm Tóibín and Claire Keegan, Saoirse is a powerful novel set between the United States and Ireland about a woman who runs from her traumatic past and the secrets she carries to survive.

In Michigan, Sarah’s childhood was defined by fear and silence. As a teenager, she saw a chance to escape and took it. Now, in 1999, she is an artist living on the rugged coast of Donegal, Ireland, where she is known as Saoirse (pronounced Sear-sha)—a name that sounds like the sea and means freedom in the language of her adopted country. And free is precisely how she is finally beginning to feel. Her partner and two beloved daughters are regular subjects of her paintings, and together they have made the safe home she always longed for. But Saoirse’s secrets haunt her. No one must learn of the identity she has stolen in order to survive; they cannot know of the dangers that she crossed an ocean to escape.

When her artwork wins unexpected acclaim at a Dublin exhibition, the spotlight of fame threatens to unravel the careful lies that hold her world together. Journalists and admirers begin to ask questions about the mysterious artist from Donegal, and she fears the unwanted publicity will expose all that she has done.

Saoirse is an evocative, suspenseful exploration of the intimate relationship between art and life and the lies we tell ourselves in the name of reinvention.

I received an advance copy of this audiobook courtesy of the publisher. All thoughts are my own.

This was a book I went into completely blind, and it ended up being one of those reads that I couldn’t look away from. I wasn’t sure what to expect, and that worked entirely in its favor. What I found was a layered, emotionally rich novel that blends mystery and family drama in a way that feels intimate and gritty.

The story unfolds across dual timelines, which helps piece together the life of Sarah, a woman whose childhood in Michigan was defined by fear, silence, and survival. As a teenager, she saw a chance to escape and took it, fleeing the United States and reinventing herself in Ireland under a stolen identity. In 1999, she is living on the rugged coast of Donegal, known as Saoirse, a name that means freedom. And for the first time in her life, that freedom feels real.

Saoirse is now an artist, a partner, and a mother of two daughters. She has built the safe, loving home she never had growing up, and that sense of hard-won peace is palpable. Hurtubise does a beautiful job showing how carefully constructed this life is, and how fragile it feels when threatened. The present-day timeline carries a constant undercurrent of tension, because we know that Saoirse’s past hasn’t disappeared. It’s simply been held at bay.

What really worked for me is the way the book slowly unravels the mystery of what happened in Sarah’s childhood. Rather than dumping revelations all at once, Hurtubise lets the truth emerge gradually, piece by piece. Each new detail adds weight to Sarah’s decision to run, to steal an identity, and to never look back. By the time the full picture comes into focus, her actions make a devastating kind of sense.

The dual timeline structure is especially effective here. The contrast between Sarah’s harrowing childhood and Saoirse’s carefully curated adult life highlights just how much reinvention has cost her. The past sections are unsettling without being sensationalized, while the present-day sections are tinged with anxiety as her newfound stability begins to crack.

That tension escalates when Saoirse’s artwork gains unexpected attention at a Dublin exhibition. With recognition comes scrutiny. Journalists start asking questions. Admirers want to know more about the mysterious artist from Donegal. And suddenly, the life she built on secrecy feels dangerously exposed. The book handles this shift thoughtfully, exploring how success can become its own threat when it shines light on the parts of ourselves we’ve tried hardest to hide.

The characters in this book are complex and deeply human. Saoirse herself is compelling, but the people around her are equally well drawn. Her partner and daughters feel real and grounding, which makes the potential consequences of exposure feel even more devastating. This isn’t just about one woman’s secret. It’s about everything she stands to lose if that secret comes undone.

I listened to this on audiobook, and the narration by Róisín Rankin deserves special mention. Her performance is pitch perfect. She switches effortlessly between Irish and American accents and brings emotional nuance to every stage of Sarah’s life. The audio format enhanced the storytelling and made the transitions between timelines feel seamless.

This is a quiet but powerful novel about survival, reinvention, and the complicated relationship between truth and safety. It’s part mystery and part family drama, and I really enjoyed it. If you enjoy character-driven stories with a mystery that reveals itself slowly, this one is absolutely worth your time.