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Kellie
Kellie
May 1, 2025 10:45 PM

Author:Kellie Harrington,Roddy Doyle

Kellie

THE PHENOMENAL MEMOIR OF A NATIONAL TREASURE

After Kellie Harrington won gold at the Tokyo Olympics, the Irish public recognized her as not merely a sporting hero, but a deeply inspirational human being. Now, Kellie tells the story of her unlikely journey to the top, and of the many obstacles and setbacks she overcame along the way.

Growing up in Dublin's north inner city, Kellie was in danger of going down the wrong path in life before she discovered boxing. The local boxing club was all-male and initially wouldn't let her join, but she persisted.

She was not an overnight success. For years she struggled in international competition. At times she felt unsupported by the national boxing set-up. More than once she considered giving up the sport. But some spark of ambition and love for boxing kept her going, and gradually she made herself world class.

Writing with Roddy Doyle, the award-winning author of The Commitments, Kellie tells the story of her unlikely rise to greatness and her continuing dedication to living a normal life - which has involved remaining an amateur boxer and keeping the job she loves, at a Dublin psychiatric hospital. She shares exceptionally vivid and revealing details about being a woman in a historically male sport, and about how she manages her body and her mind. It is a vastly inspiring look inside the life and psychology of a woman who is both brilliantly ordinary and utterly exceptional.

Reviews

Readers will be with her every step of the way . . . her voice is so radiant

—— Tommy Conlon , Sunday Independent

Doyle has captured the full Kellie experience here, all heart and laughs and a mouth like a sailor

—— Malachy Clerkin , Irish Times

A terrific collaboration. Kellie Harrington's story is unique . . . Doyle coaxes her journey to Olympic gold out of her with warmth, wit and tenderness

—— Irish Times Books of the Year

By the end of this read, you know exactly how to feel about Kellie's life so far. Extraordinary. And the book leaves you in one position: in Kellie's corner

—— Sinéad Kissane , Irish Independent

Perfectly capture[s] the story of a champion who couldn't be stopped from reaching her dreams

—— Irish Daily Mail

A riot!

—— Brendan O'Connor

Fascinating and hilarious. Starts with a bang and never falters. Anarchic and wonderful

—— Joe Brolly

Fantastic. Can't remember a sports book with so many stories to propel it along. There's at least three different movies in it

—— Malachy Clerkin

Candid tales of football, family and everything in between - it's no surprise The Rodfather's memoir is just brilliant

—— Irish Independent

A big man, with big emotions, and a big life . . . a fascinating read

—— Sunday Independent

What a great book The Rodfather is. A walk on the wild side of football - and a few other games - terrifying and yet massively entertaining. Paul Howard is the best writer in the country

—— Declan Lynch

Really fabulous

—— Pat Kenny Show

[The Rodfather] might be the funniest book written since Roddy Doyle's The Van . . . There's a laugh on every page

—— Irish Examiner

'He was shy and introverted, not the extrovert. We could think that he was macho, but he wanted to be loved.'

—— Jef Brouwers

'People always love comeback stories. Because they recognise that in life, it's all about falling down and standing up.'

—— Steve De Wolf

'A riveting, warts-an-all dive into a complex, deeply flawed rider and man'

—— Cycling Plus

'McGrath covers the rise and fall of Frank Vandenbroucke with sensitivity and not sensationalism... from winning Liège-Bastogne-Liège to doping and addiction, suicide attempts, court appearances and his death, no stone is left unturned when delivering the truth about 'cycling's great wasted talent'

—— Cyclist

'Poignant, painful but utterly riveting...covered with careful sensitivity by McGrath, painted in all its grey complexity with an absence of judgment. A captivating read'
Irish Independent

—— .

A chillingly vivid thriller in a fantastic setting - you can almost feel the icy Alpine wind on your face as you turn the pages.

—— T M Logan, bestselling author of THE HOLIDAY

A tense page-turner.

—— Sunday Times Style magazine

One of the most eagerly awaited debuts of the year.

—— Sunday Express magazine

The nail-biting suspense and spooky atmosphere of Sarah Pearse's thrilling debut novel kept me reading until late in the night. I loved Sarah's masterful descriptions of the Alpine setting, the creepy history of the hotel, and the growing sense of danger as the hapless characters are cut off from the outside world by a massive storm . . . just as the realisation dawns that a deranged killer is on the loose.

—— Ann Gosslin, author of THE SHADOW BIRD and THE DOUBLE

Tense, claustrophobic and chilling in every sense of the word.

—— Tammy Cohen, author of WHEN SHE WAS BAD

Dark and suspenseful - I had shivers running down my spine as I read this chilling thriller.

—— Good Housekeeping

An addictive, creepy and twisting read. The perfect gothic story for a cold February night.

—— Stylist

An eerie, atmospheric novel that had me completely on the edge of my seat.

—— Reese Witherspoon, for Reese's Book Club

[A] menacing, creepy debut [...] There are echoes of Hitchcock and du Maurier, but Pearse has her own distinctive, emotional voice - one to be admired.

—— Daily Mail

Tense, chilling and full of surprises.

—— Sun, Pick of the Week

Locked-room mysteries a la Agatha Christie are proving to be very popular right now, and this one doesn't disappoint.

—— Prima

This atmospheric chiller has a few shocks up its sleeve.

—— Crime Monthly

A mix of whodunnit and psychological thriller with hints of horror, this fine debut [...] is smartly structured and often powerful.

—— Sunday Times

Spooky, chilling and claustrophobic.

—— Observer

This impressive debut is a twist on the classic locked-room mystery in a wonderfully eerie Gothic setting. Its sharp prose builds suspense through a series of twists that will send an Alpine chill up your spine, building to an unpredictable finale. This clever, compelling thriller deserves to be a bestseller and marks out Sarah Pearse as one to watch.

—— Sunday Express S Magazine

Want a book that's going to leave you chilled to the bone? This is it!

—— Fabulous Magazine

Sarah Pearse's chilling debut is making waves. The Sanatorium certainly has an eerie, cinematic appeal [...] With whispers of The Shining in setting and The Girl on the Train in pace.

—— Vanity Fair

I absolutely loved The Sanatorium - it gave me all the wintry thrills and chills. It was just wonderful.

—— Lucy Foley, bestselling author of THE HUNTING PARTY and THE GUEST LIST

Genuinely scary and deliciously atmospheric, and one of the best books of 2021, this international bestseller is guaranteed to give you goosebumps.

—— Woman & Home

What a page-turner! Like Agatha Christie crossed with Scandi noir, and doing with Swiss mountains what Jane Harper books do with the Australian outback. Loved it, and can't wait for the next Elin book!

—— Andrea Mara, author of ALL HER FAULT
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