Placeholders: An unflinching and emotionally insightful debut about cultural identity, homesickness, love and loss

** 'For anyone who's ever experienced homesickness, loss or that type of love that you can't bear to be without, this is the novel for you. Tender, bittersweet and beautifully written' - BELFAST TELEGRAPH **

In the five years following his brother's death, Aaron has built himself a life of solitary routines. After moving from Dublin to Boston, and illegally overstaying her visa, Róisín has done the same.

When the two meet on a night out, they each find in the other something missing in their lives. A semblance of home.

Their relationship is complicated by their disparate religious backgrounds - Aaron is Jewish; Roísín is atheist - and by the harsh realities of everyday life. Just as they're pushed to their breaking point, Roísín realises she is pregnant.

Placeholders is a poignant story of loneliness corrected and the transformative power of love. The next fix for fans of Sally Rooney, Nick Hornby, David Nicholls, Louise Kennedy and Coco Mellors.

'This bittersweet debut explores liminal times, places and relationships... It's a subtle depiction of the blurring of lines between religion and community, between love and obligation, rich with the sort of present-moment nostalgia that there's almost certainly a German word for' - GQ (Best Books of 2024)

'Humane, heartfelt and beautifully observed. Roseman raises huge questions about identity, belonging and family, excelling in his depiction of the small, everyday exchanges which make or break a relationship. A quietly, powerful novel, from a writer I'm keen to keep my eye on' - JAN CARSON, author of Quickly, While They Still Have Horses

'There's no way around it: James Roseman writes beautifully. Confident, complex, moving, funny, Placeholders is a novel that makes a beeline to the heart. Time and again, I didn't want it to end' - DECLAN TOOHEY, author of Perpetual Comedown

'An intimate, unflinching, and, above all, heartfelt novel, the best debut I've read this year. Buy your Roseman stock early. I loved this' - RONAN RYAN, author of The Fractured Life of Jimmy Dice

'Placeholders is a beautiful debut. A quietly moving reminder that people, not ideas, are what make or break a home or a heart' - SHEILA ARMSTRONG, author of Falling Animals

'Poignant and lyrical, James Roseman's debut explores loss, faith, family and homesickness with care and warmth... Roseman does what the best authors do, and illuminates how one human relates to another' - BONNIE BURKE-PATEL, author of I Died at Fallow Hall

'A subtle, beautifully written story of two young people trying to make a life – together and as individuals – under the pressures of late capitalism… written with an unflinching tenderness' - LARISSA PHAM, author of Pop Song

This novel contains a depiction of sexual assault.

© 2024 Verve Books (E-bog): 9780857308580

Release date

E-bog: 12. september 2024