Charlie Gracie grew up in Baillieston, Glasgow. His poetrycollections, Good Morning (2010) and Tales from the Dartry Mountains (2020), are published by Diehard Publishers. His poetry pamphlet, Belfast to Baillieston (2023), will be published by Red Squirrel Press in autumn 2023. He was the 2020 official Scriever for the Federation of Writers (Scotland) and is a former Chair of the Scottish Writers’ Centre. To Live With What You Are is his first novel and was longlisted for the 2019 Bath Novel Award. Charlie now lives in Thornhill on the edge of the Trossachs.

Everyone has to be true to what they really are: it goes without saying. But what if what you really are is a creative genius and a committer of random acts of malice? Or a man whose boyhood stunk of booze and blood?

To Live With What You Are takes you into the world of Maura and James, a couple you’ll never forget. Artistry, violence, love and the pressures of raising a daughter among it all combine to create a story that will seep into the day-to-dayness of your life.

‘Ever wish you could un-read something you’ve read? Last novel to get under my skin like this was Michel Faber’s Under the Skin. Be warned: the ending to this one is creepy as eff, uh, curly kih, kicking kih. Charlie’s one of the nicest people you could meet too!’

 

—Donal McLaughlin, author & translator
 

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