Aftertaste

In this lush follow up to Sunburn and Heap Earth Upon It, two women struggle to keep their romance alive amidst class difference and a financial crash...

It’s the new millennium when Meadhbh leaves rural Ireland behind for the fast-paced, unaffordable luxury that is living in London. The penny pinching soon becomes worth it, though, because in the haze of a party—there is Aly. Privileged, wealthy via birth, and completely in love with Meadhbh, even if she won’t say it.

Summer is gorgeous riding in Aly’s vintage Capri, sleeping in her plush bed, meeting her interesting, if awful, friends. Eventually, Meadhbh and Aly even move back to Meadhbh’s hometown, and the domesticity they were playing at becomes reality. But when the 2010 recession comes down hard, so do the illusions they’ve built around themselves. Will Meadhbh and Aly survive the crash?

Written in Howarth’s signature lush, searing prose, Aftertaste is a love story about class, queerness, and home. It captures the intoxicating push and pull of a relationship in jeopardy: the small cruelties, the estrangements, and the desire simmering underneath it all.