Five years after the loss of his brother, Aaron lives within the safety of routines, his life marked by solitude. Across the ocean, Róisín has left Dublin for Boston, overstaying her visa and slipping into a similarly quiet existence.
When chance brings them together on a night out, each recognises in the other something they’ve been missing, a fragile sense of belonging, a glimpse of home.
But their bond is tested. Aaron’s Jewish background and Róisín’s atheism expose deep differences, while the practical struggles of daily life weigh heavily. And when Róisín discovers she is pregnant, their relationship reaches a turning point that will reshape both their lives.
Tender, searching and quietly profound, Placeholders is a story about loneliness interrupted, the boundaries of faith and the unexpected ways love can transform us.
Perfect for readers drawn to the emotional honesty of Sally Rooney, Nick Hornby, David Nicholls, Louise Kennedy and Coco Mellors.
James Roseman was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and grew up outside Boston. Since 2019, he has made Dublin his home. A graduate of the Bennington Writing Seminars (MFA in Creative Writing and Literature), James brings both American and Irish perspectives to his fiction. Placeholders is his debut novel and one of the shortlisted entries in the Literary Studio’s First Novel Prize 2024.
