Little Vanities

Dylan, Stevie and Ben have been inseparable since their days at Trinity, when everything seemed possible. A glance between them can still conjure their younger selves: dancing beneath pulsing lights, the sharp taste of salt after swims in Dublin Bay.Two decades on, life feels smaller. Dylan, once a rugby star, is stranded on the sofa, cared for by his wife Rachel. Across town, Stevie and Ben's relationship has settled into weary routine. Then, after countless auditions, Ben lands a role in Pinter's Betrayal. As rehearsals unfold, the play's shifting allegiances seep into reality, reviving old jealousies and awakening sudden longings, as each must reckon with how far they're willing to go in pursuit of desire.Wry, sexy and deftly observed, Little Vanities is a novel about the dangerous thrill of stepping outside the roles we've been given - and the distance between the lives we imagine and the ones we live.



Sarah Gilmartin is an Irish writer and arts journalist. She co-edited the anthology Stinging Fly Stories. Her short fiction has been published in The Dublin Review, New Irish Writing and The Tangerine. Her awards include Best Playwright at the Short+Sweet Dublin Festival and the Máirtín Crawford Short Story Award. Her bestselling debut novel Dinner Party was shortlisted for an Irish Book Award and the Kate O'Brien Award. Her second novel Service was a Waterstones Book of the Month, a Washington Post top books of summer, and a Book of the Year in the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Sunday Independent and Sunday Business Post.