Thirst Trap

Hilarious and gut-wrenching – Alice Slater, author of Death of a BooksellerIt’s compulsively readable and brilliant on friendship and grief. I raced through it – Daily MailThink Dolly Alderton, but with the sharp edges of Eliza Clark … O’Hare has a true gift for a visceral simile, her sandpapery prose scribbling vivid pictures of messy pleasure that you can practically smell off the tequila-soaked page * The Independent *So funny, taut and complex – Wendy Erskine, author of The BenefactorsAn absolute riot - funny, compassionate, observant and wise … O’Hare attends so closely, so wittily and so empathetically to every single one of these characters … enormously impressive and fun – Kevin Power, The Irish TimesVery funny … a little bit Dolly Alderton and a little bit Lena Dunham, with a wholly Irish soul * New York Times *Brilliant. The characters were so warm and real, I felt like I knew them. A beautiful look at friendship and transition, it was funny, bittersweet, and honest – Chloe Michelle Howarth, author of SunburnRaucous, sexy and f*cking hilarious. A heady mix of Michael Magee’s Close to Home and Lena Dunham’s Girls. Everybody should read this book. – Aimée Walsh, author of ExileAn emotional wild ride in all the best ways – Dakota Johnson, TEATIME Book clubAn absolutely cracking read … Gráinne O’Hare has a keen eye, a sharp wit, pitch-perfect comic timing and a big heart, and spending time with her and her trio of female friends has all the raucous intimate pleasure of a big night out without any of the hangover. I loved it – Lucy Caldwell, author of These DaysA triumph. Gráinne O’Hare is like the literary love child of Miranda July and Carrie Fisher, transposed in Belfast - hilarious, smart and chaotic in the best way – Louise Nealon, author of SnowflakeSpiky, funny, cool, heartbreaking … There were so many turns of phrase I had to read again and again because they were so perfectly put. It’s a deeply fulfilling and tender read about the power of female friendship and of finding light in dark places. A dazzlingly assured novel – Emma Stonex, author of The LamplightersIt’s one of those novels that you can’t believe is a debut. O’Hare is a writer to watch out for in 2025 and beyond * RTÉ *A rising star of the Belfast New Wave … this book is for anyone who has found themselves on the fraying end of a close friendship, appreciates comedy or experienced their twenties in a blur of high emotion – The Irish PostHigh-velocity, hilarious, and rooted in the chaos and absolute commitment of female friendship. I love her work – Naomi Booth, author of raw contentHighly-relatable. A brilliant portrayal of grief — and of growing up. Written with humour, hope, and warmth * Irish Examiner *Gráinne O’Hare is the next big thing on the literary scene … Thirst Trap is a quintessential millennial coming of age story - and magic to read – The MirrorA promising debut … The New Sobriety will have to wait—the party novel is not dead. At least in Ireland – KirkusTenderly encompasses grief, friendship, relationships and self-destruction in a way that’s funny, relatable and bittersweet * RTÉ, Books of the Year *

Gráinne O’Hare is a writer from Belfast based in Newcastle upon Tyne. She received a Northern Debut Award for Fiction from New Writing North in 2022, and was awarded funding by the Arts Council in 2023 for the development and completion of her first novel. She has also been shortlisted for the Francis MacManus Short Story Competition and the Bridport Prize, and came in the top three of the Benedict Kiely Short Story Competition in 2021 and 2022. She is Media Sub-Editor of Criticks reviews for the British Society of Eighteenth-Century Studies, and is currently completing a PhD on eighteenth-century women’s life-writing at Newcastle University. Thirst Trap is her first novel.