One Came Back

“Starts intriguing, soon becomes creepy, moves swiftly on to downright unsettling.” * Sharon Bolton, author of THE SPLIT *Dark and devastating, with a beautifully realised Highland setting, One Came Back delves into an eerie obsession where nothing is quite what it seems. When Emily sees an old childhood friend in Edinburgh at New Year she is transfixed - because Nicky has been dead for twenty years. McDonagh’s prose is spare and intimate, pulling the reader into the claustrophobia of Emily’s mind as she becomes fixated on Nicky and the things he seems to know about her. A portrait of limerence and the enduring importance of teenage years and experiences, this is a story that haunts you long after you’ve left the page. * Heather Critchlow, author of UNSOLVED *

I found this compelling and genuinely eerie. There’s a fever-dream quality to it but also a directness of gaze which makes the whole story of loss and confused identity feel distinctly plausible. Rose McDonagh has woven such a closely layered and claustrophic tale that I was left guessing all the way through. I didn’t see the ending coming but when it did I realised how cleverly she had in fact been leaving a trail to follow. I was so impressed with the way she combines oddness with ordinariness - and how complex and frightening scenes are described with such clear-eyed precision. Apart from anything else, I always approve of novels which don’t abandon the small-scale and the hum-drum - which is, of course, exactly what adds to the chilling effect here.

* Ruth Thomas, author of THE SNOW AND THE WORKS ON THE NORTHERN LINE *One Came Back is a haunted and haunting gothic thriller about how grief and obsession obscure memory. Creeping, dark and twisty: like scaling a mountain, and peering over the sheer drop at the edge. * Jenna Clake, author of DISTURBANCE *A hugely impressive debut. It left me reeling. A mesmerising and powerful ghost story that delves deep into memory and the emotional landscapes of grief. Rose McDonagh is a rare talent and a masterful storyteller. * Devika Ponnambalam, author of I AM NOT YOUR EVE *“A gripping mystery, that balances its eerie, page-turning plot with poetic and moving insights into grief and the porous boundaries between reality and illusion. McDonagh observes so beautifully the haunting and uncanny coincidences life presents us with. I loved it.” * Lucy Ribchester, author of MURDER BALLAD *This is a finely crafted novel which finds that elusive balance between suspense and reflection. It is a novel which needs to be read twice: the plot means it is almost impossible to put it down, but the questions it asks about the nature of memory, loss and delusion demand more time. McDonagh plays with the narrative threads of the past and the present with the skill of a master weaver. The evocation of childhood and adolescence is poignant and written with acute observation and understanding; it draws the reader back into their own youth to think about that liminal space between reality and memory… Book Groups choosing this novel will need to set aside extra time for discussion because there are no easy answers in One Came Back. * Catherine Lloyd, author of DEATH COMES TO LONDON *

Rose McDonagh’s writing has won the Bath Flash Fiction Award and been shortlisted for the Bridport Prize, the London Magazine Short Story Competition, the Dinesh Allirajah Prize and the Bristol Prize. She was longlisted for the Caledonia First Novel Award and the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize. Her debut short story collection, THE DOG HUSBAND was published by Reflex Press in 2022.

She is trained as a counsellor and has several years of experience working in trauma support and community health. She was born in Edinburgh and lives in Scotland with her husband.