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Shibby Magee
Not yet published
Expected 1 Mar 26☘️ A character-driven Irish tragicomedy threaded with wit, heartbreak, and bittersweet redemption. (March 2026 release.)
Echoing the tones of the TV series Fleabag, SHIBBY MAGEE is wry and wickedly irreverent while reflecting the sharp, dark dynamics of The Banshees of Inisherin. Full of texture and lyrical rhythm, it will appeal to fans of The Bee Sting by Paul Murray, Good Eggs by Rebecca Hardiman, All We Shall Know by Donal Ryan, The Outside Boy by Jeanine Cummins, The Green Road by Anne Enright, Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín, Minding Frankie by Maeve Binchy, and Foster by Claire Keegan.
When their mother, Vera Coffey, disappears after announcing she's a Traveller/Mincéir, Shibby and her twin sister, Dorah, are abandoned to a settled family already cracking at the seams. Under the iron rule of their viciously prejudiced grandmother and their emotionally absent baker father, the two girls grow up on opposite tracks: Dorah, arrogant and bold; Shibby, bruised and quietly resilient.
As Shibby stumbles into adulthood, she's drawn to men who either abuse or dump her. She finds fleeting stability in the fast-paced chaos of a restaurant kitchen—but a question gnaws at her: is her future in the rooted life of the settled or on the open road to God only knows where? With the fierce support of a chosen few—Alice Duffy, housekeeper turned surrogate mother; Moochie de Barra, an affectionate stand-in for her apathetic father; and Kitty Dooley, a Traveller whose loyalty never wavers—Shibby begins to uncover hard truths about identity, family, and what she desperately needs to find where she truly belongs
"Carrie Kabak follows the indelible, indefatigable Shibby Magee during two crucial years in her life, one in girlhood and then another at midlife womanhood, as she struggles against prejudice, cruelty, and abandonment in her search to find her true place in an increasingly confounding world, be it in a bustling restaurant or on the road as an Irish Traveller—an extraordinary, wily community I’d never heard of before and was delighted to encounter. Warm, wise, with dashes of wit, Kabak’s novel is just magnificent."—Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Pictures of You, With or Without You, and Days of Wonder."—Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Pictures of You, With or Without You, and Days of Wonder.
Echoing the tones of the TV series Fleabag, SHIBBY MAGEE is wry and wickedly irreverent while reflecting the sharp, dark dynamics of The Banshees of Inisherin. Full of texture and lyrical rhythm, it will appeal to fans of The Bee Sting by Paul Murray, Good Eggs by Rebecca Hardiman, All We Shall Know by Donal Ryan, The Outside Boy by Jeanine Cummins, The Green Road by Anne Enright, Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín, Minding Frankie by Maeve Binchy, and Foster by Claire Keegan.
When their mother, Vera Coffey, disappears after announcing she's a Traveller/Mincéir, Shibby and her twin sister, Dorah, are abandoned to a settled family already cracking at the seams. Under the iron rule of their viciously prejudiced grandmother and their emotionally absent baker father, the two girls grow up on opposite tracks: Dorah, arrogant and bold; Shibby, bruised and quietly resilient.
As Shibby stumbles into adulthood, she's drawn to men who either abuse or dump her. She finds fleeting stability in the fast-paced chaos of a restaurant kitchen—but a question gnaws at her: is her future in the rooted life of the settled or on the open road to God only knows where? With the fierce support of a chosen few—Alice Duffy, housekeeper turned surrogate mother; Moochie de Barra, an affectionate stand-in for her apathetic father; and Kitty Dooley, a Traveller whose loyalty never wavers—Shibby begins to uncover hard truths about identity, family, and what she desperately needs to find where she truly belongs
"Carrie Kabak follows the indelible, indefatigable Shibby Magee during two crucial years in her life, one in girlhood and then another at midlife womanhood, as she struggles against prejudice, cruelty, and abandonment in her search to find her true place in an increasingly confounding world, be it in a bustling restaurant or on the road as an Irish Traveller—an extraordinary, wily community I’d never heard of before and was delighted to encounter. Warm, wise, with dashes of wit, Kabak’s novel is just magnificent."—Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Pictures of You, With or Without You, and Days of Wonder."—Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Pictures of You, With or Without You, and Days of Wonder.
Hardcover
Expected publication March 1, 2026
16 people want to read
About the author
Carrie Kabak
11 books17 followers ☘️A character-driven Irish tragicomedy threaded with wit, heartbreak, and bittersweet redemption. Actively seeking readers to post a review on Goodreads, Amazon, and other venues any time from March-July 2026 for SHIBBY MAGEE, Women’s Upmarket Fiction. Please contact corbyn.press@gmail.com with subject line SHIBBY MAGEE/ARC for a complimentary PDF or ePub Advanced Reader Copy.
More info, excerpt, and audiobook samples here: www.carriekabak.com.
Echoing the tones of the TV series Fleabag, SHIBBY MAGEE is wry and wickedly irreverent while reflecting the sharp, dark dynamics of The Banshees of Inisherin. Full of texture and lyrical rhythm, it will appeal to fans of The Bee Sting by Paul Murray, Good Eggs by Rebecca Hardiman, All We Shall Know by Donal Ryan, The Outside Boy by Jeanine Cummins, The Green Road by Anne Enright, Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín, Minding Frankie by Maeve Binchy, and Foster by Claire Keegan.
"Carrie Kabak follows the indelible, indefatigable Shibby Magee during two crucial years in her life, one in girlhood and then another at midlife womanhood, as she struggles against prejudice, cruelty, and abandonment in her search to find her true place in an increasingly confounding world, be it in a bustling restaurant or on the road as an Irish Traveller—an extraordinary, wily community I’d never heard of before and was delighted to encounter. Warm, wise, with dashes of wit, Kabak’s novel is just magnificent."—Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Pictures of You, With or Without You, and Days of Wonder.
AUTHOR BIO: Published by Penguin Random House, Carrie Kabak's novel, Cover the Butter, was an Independent Booksellers' Pick, won an Audiofile Magazine award, and was nominated for a Quills Award. Her essays appear in For Keeps and He Said What? (Seal Press), Exit Laughing (North Atlantic Books), Faith (Simon and Schuster), and Dumped (She Writes). Carrie's latest novels, Shibby Magee and Every Mole and Freckle, will be released in spring and fall 2026, and Mali Morgan's Summer in spring 2027. Carrie's a regular online visitor at Victoria Zackheim's UCLA Personal Essay course (Extension Writers’ Program) where she discusses the art of essay writing.
Alongside her writing, Carrie works as a book cover artist for major publishers after working for many years as a production designer at Hallmark Cards. Both an Irish and British citizen, she now lives in Missouri with her husband. They share five sons, five grandchildren, two labradors, two cockatiels, and four tank
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