Turning Turtle

by Denise Deegan

Kim Waters seems to have it all: her own PR agency, a loving - wealthy - husband and two perfect children. In their charming suburban Dublin home, everything seems picture perfect. But then Kim announces she's fed up with plugging Flush toilet cleaner and writing snazzy press releases for boring products: she wants to write 'the great novel'. So, without a second thought, she throws in the job and settles down to a life of cosy domesticity: writing a wonderful novel that everyone will want to publish, and trying to keep the kids away from the television. However, the dream rapidly turns sour - the novel is a tired cliche, life as a domestic supergoddess is not all it's cracked up to be, and then she discovers her husband is having an affair...As the perfect life Kim has built for herself starts to fall apart, comes a revelation that will make her doubt everything she had taken for granted in her life...What other writers say about 'Turning Turtle' A stunning tale of modern marriage, written with wit, passion and flair' Catherine Dunne 'Denise Deegan's novel is funny and entertaining. It captures life today perfectly. I saw a bit of myself in the keenly observed character of Kim Waters.I wish her every success with it.' Joan O'Neill 'It's hard to believe that 'Turning Turtle' is Denise Deegan's first novel. Chronicling in heady detail the break down of a modern Irish marriage, it is well written and utterly involving, with some superbly drawn characters and a carefully constructed plot. I highly recommend it to any reader and I look forward to reading Denise's next book.' Sarah Webb 'Fresh, funny and astute - a highly readable debut' Claire Boylan 'Allow me, I continue. I'm on a roll. I open the giant knots adorning the tops of the bundles and start to grab Ex-husband's personal belongings. I fling them at her with force. Boxers, ties, tatty greyish vests (bet she hasn't seen these). I leave it at that. She's got the message.'.

256 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1990

About the author

Award-winning and best-selling author, Denise Deegan lives in Dublin with her family where she regularly dreams of sunshine, a life without cooking and her novels being made into movies.

Denise has been a nurse, a china restorer, a pharmaceutical sales rep, a public relations officer, an entrepreneur and a college lecturer. Her most difficult job was being a checkout girl, although ultimately this experience did inspire a short story…

Denise writes for both adults and teenagers. Her novels have been published by Penguin, Random House, Hachette and Lake Union Publishing. Writing under the pen name Aimee Alexander, Denise's contemporary family dramas have become international best-sellers on Kindle.

Under her own name, Denise has written a much-loved contemporary Young Adult trilogy, the Butterfly Novels, the second of which was nominated for an Irish Book Award.

Denise's most recent novel, Through the Barricades, won the international SCBWI Spark Award.

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great summer read! Very easy to jump into the book and stay with the characters! Story about life and love and loss - loved the characters in the book! Loved the fact that the main character didn't take the easy way out! At times I did not like the what the main character was doing, blaming her husband and not herself. Very good ending! Would recommend to a friend!