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Three’s a crowd: The City Changes its Face, by Eimear McBride, reviewed

Tension mounts between young Eily and her 40-year-old partner, Stephen, when Stephen’s daughter, Grace, appears, underlining the couple’s different ages and experiences

Francesca Peacock
Eimear McBride. Kat Green
EXPLORE THE ISSUE 01 March 2025
issue 01 March 2025

Nearly a decade after Eimear McBride published The Lesser Bohemians (her second novel after the success of A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing),the Irish writer has returned to the drab, smoke-filled world of 1990s London. The City Changes its Face is told from the perspective of 20-year-old Eily, two years after she has left Ireland to study drama in London and has met Stephen, an established actor 20 years her senior.

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