Mary O'Hara

What does it mean to be poor? For decades, the dominant narrative in the UK and US has been that it is caused by personal flaws or 'bad life decisions'. People are 'lazy', 'dependent' and 'irresponsible'. This 'story' has become embedded in the public consciousness with serious ramifications for how financially vulnerable people are seen, spoken about and treated. Drawing on a two-year story-telling project and her own experience of childhood poverty,...

Voted one of the Guardian best books of 2014 by Owen Jones. After coming to power in May 2010, the Coalition government in the United Kingdom embarked on a drastic programme of cuts to public spending and introduced a raft of austerity measures that had profoundly damaging effects on much of the population. This bestselling book by award-winning journalist Mary O'Hara chronicles the true impact of austerity on people at the sharp end, based on her...

Against all odds, Morrighan and Jafir, members of opposing tribes, fall in love and set history in motion. Before borders were drawn, before treaties were signed, before wars were waged anew, before the great kingdoms of the Remnant were even born and the world of old was only a hazy slate of memory told in story and legend, a girl and her family fought to survive. And that girl’s name was Morrighan.