The Mess We're In: A vivid story of friendship, hedonism and finding your own rhythm

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I'm a voice in the noise. I'm ready. It's the turn of the millennium and, landing in London with nothing but her CD collection and demo tape, Orla Quinn moves into a squalid Kilburn house with her best mate and a band called Shiva. Orla wants to make music, but juggling two jobs and partying every night isn't helping. It’s the turn of the millennium and, landing in London with nothing but her CD collection and demo tape, Orla Quinn moves into a squalid Kilburn house with her best mate and a band called Shiva. Active Hope shows us how to strengthen our capacity to face this crisis so that we can respond with unexpected resilience and creative power. Drawing on decades of teaching an empowerment approach know as the Work that Reconnects, the authors guide us through a transformational process informed by mythic journeys, modern psychology, spirituality, and holistic science. This process equips us with tools to face the mess we’re in and play our role in the collective transition, or Great Turning, to a life-sustaining society. The author really captures the energy of ‘finding yourself’ as a young person in your twenties. The fun & possibilities. The chance for reinvention and taking chances. The euphoric heights and soul crushing lows - and Orla certainly experiences all of this. I try to stop grinning, to fix my face to look more casual at this scene – this pub in Camden, this band that I live with now – as if this is just a typical evening for me instead of the first night out of the rest of my life. Then the barman catches my eye. I lean forwards. I am a Londoner now. I’m a voice in the noise. I’m ready”

When everyone’s gone from the pub, Pat lets her tiredness take her over, her mouth sagging downwards into an upside down U. Terrified about the current volatile state of the western world? Anxiety levels high? Concerned about what is happening (or, for that matter, not happening) to our politics, society, culture? Then perhaps this book is ideal for you… While Orla’s own dreams seem to be going nowhere, Shiva are on the brink of something big. But as the hype around the band intensifies, so does the hedonism, and relationships in the house are growing strained. Set in Kilburn, The Mess We’re In is the story of a young Irish woman, Orla Quinn, as she embarks on her London odyssey with hope and expectation. Orla moves into a room in a house-share with her friend Neema and Neema’s brother, who is part of a band called Shiva. All the other band-mates live in the house also. Neema is a law student with a clear career path ahead of her, with Orla’s sights set on the music industry. Orla writes music, plays guitar and has studied music production. She understands the music but she has no direct experience of the music industry. Living with a band has possibilities for Orla but she needs to bide her time and put in some hard and dirty work.I perhaps need a bit more time to digest this book and all that it made me feel. The things I really loved was the authenticity of life as a 20-something just out of college in the year 2001, I was just a year younger than the character at this time and it made me reminisce so much about the music/gig scene and political feelings of the time. Although Orla is nothing like me, I felt I understood where she was coming from and in particular her relationships with her family. The correlation with Orla's Da and what I also experienced in my mid-20s was very well written and I felt all the emotions in my core. Annie McManus writes beautifully with such description and I truly enjoyed absorbing every word lyrically. The much-anticipated second novel from author Annie Macmanus, The Mess We’re In is a vibrant, unforgettable tale of a chaotic young woman finding her feet and her sound at such a memorable point in London’s cultural and musical history. What [Macmanus has] managed to do with London, and what London means to different generations of Irish people, is terrific, and deeply moving’ RODDY DOYLE There isn’t too much of a plot, it’s just a nice story following Orla as she learns to live in London and away from her family who are in Dublin.

At the end of the book Keane offers ten apparently sensible suggestions for countering these negative drives, which are intended to help us see through what might otherwise seem to be insurmountable impasses. Whether one agrees with them or not, they will at least offer some hope that all is not quite lost. Set in Kilburn, The Mess We’re In is the story of a young Irish woman, Orla Quinn, as she embarks on her London odyssey with hope and expectation. Orla moves into a room in a house-share with her friend Neema and Neema’s brother, who is part of a band called Shiva. All the other band-mates live in the house also. Neema is a law student with a clear career path ahead of her, with Orla’s sights set on the music industry. Orla writes music, plays guitar and has studied music production. She understands the music but she has no direct experience of the music industry. Living with a band has possibilities for Orla but she needs to bide her time and put in some hard and dirty work. A very astute overview of problems with our political systems in the present day. Not just in Australia, but in other major allies as well (the UK and USA) It describes how greed has overtaken humanity. How people are losing confidence in the people they chose to represent them.

I wonder what our little gathering must look like from her perspective: a girl, blushing with pleasure in the corner of a small, steamy restaurant, surrounded by laughing faces. I wonder if I look comfortable in my skin to her. Does she think I belong here? But as the hype around the band intensifies, so does the hedonism, and relationships in the house are growing strained. This is the story of a young woman thrashing through life, trying to find home in a strange new place. I feel like this book is aimed at a very particular person - in theory, I was in a similar position to Orla around the same time, having moved away from home for the first time in 2001. There's where the similarities ended - all the characters seemed to do was take drugs while living in squalor. Their flat sounded disgusting, and they were all struggling to make ends meet yet were out every night getting absolutely mangled. They just all really irritated me (except maybe Neema, who was the only one taking anything seriously) - Orla was in no position to judge her mother or sister for drinking when she was off her head daily. Ditto her father's relationship - she was horrible to his new partner and came off like a bratty teenager instead of a supposed independent woman trying to have a career in music. s highly trusting nature and seeing the best in people, being a bit oblivious and how the relationship with her room mate develops were spot on as a portrait of Irish people.

Orla is Irish and moves to London in her early twenties in 2001. She lives with her friend Neema and Neema’s brother Kesh. Kesh is in a band called Shiva and the rest of the band live there too. I'm so sad it's over. I could have read another sixty chapters . . . A fantastic read' JOANNE MCNALLY

Loved the characters in the pub she works at too. I can definitely chime with those older Irish men full of yearning and Guinness - I have plenty in my own family

I’m so sad it’s over. I could have read another sixty chapters . . . A fantastic read’ JOANNE MCNALLY Gerry blinks, looking at his pint, and says, - we don’t all get the luxury of belonging where we’re born. Coming of age book which anyone who has left home to try to find themselves/leave a mess behind will identify with. I laughed out loud in some parts.A dizzying tale of young adulthood and the glimmering freedom and not-so-good decisions that come with it.’ CHLOE ASHBY