About the Book

From the acclaimed author of the “wonderfully funny and openhearted” (NPR) Drinking with Men comes a poignant, wrenching, and ultimately hopeful book—equal parts memoir and social history—that follows the author, after a series of tragic losses, to Northern Ireland, where she finds a path toward healing.

Rosie Schaap had a solid career as a journalist and a life that looked to others like nonstop fun: all drinking and dining and traveling to beautiful places—and getting paid to write about it. But under the surface she was reeling from the loss of her husband and her mother—who died just one year apart. Caring for them had claimed much of her daily life in her late thirties. Mourning them would take longer.

It wasn’t until a reporting trip took her to the Northern Irish countryside that Rosie found a partner to heal with: Glenarm, a quiet, seaside village in County Antrim. That first visit made such an impression she returned to make a life. This unlikely place—in a small, tough country mainly associated with sectarian strife—gave her a measure of peace that had seemed impossible elsewhere.

Weaving personal narrative and social history, The Slow Road North is a moving and wise look at how a community can offer the key to healing. It’s a portrait of a complicated place at a pivotal time—through Brexit, a historic school integration, and a pandemic—and a love letter to a village, a culture, and a country.

Critical Praise

“With focused premise and expansive feeling... [and] very smart assessments of a mode of being that’s not given the credit it deserves. Drinking With Men would pair very well this time of year with a well-aged whiskey and a handful of peanuts.” — Boston Globe

“Schaap brings a poet’s touch to her memoir, which brims with insight and wisdom.” — Jimmy Breslin on Drinking with Men

“[Schaap] describes the unusual camaraderie among bar ‘regulars’ with poignant specificity. It’s a cozy, intimate pleasure to go belly-to-bar with her.” — Entertainment Weekly on Drinking with Men

“Schaap warmly toasts the urge so many of us share to find a spot where everybody knows your name.” — People on Drinking with Men

“A witty homage to pubs and bars and the regulars who call them home.” — O Magazine on Drinking with Men

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Product Details

• ISBN: 9780358097457
• ISBN 10: 0358097452
• Imprint: Mariner Books
• On Sale: 08/20/2024
• Trimsize: 6.000 in (w) x 9.000 in (h) x 0.860 in (d)
• Pages: 272
• List Price: $29.99
• BISAC1 : FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS / Death, Grief, Bereavement
• BISAC2 : HISTORY / Europe / Ireland
• BISAC3 : BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal Memoirs
• BISAC4 : TRAVEL / Europe / Ireland