How Far a Night Can Reach

In turn surreal, comical, and poignant, How Far a Night Can Reach follows the lives of six main characters whose paths first cross at a St. Patrick's Day celebration. That night, an amateur fiddle trio takes the stage at an Irish pub called O'Malley's. The fiddle trio consists of two hobbyists, Brent and Rudy, and one real talent, Georgia, still hopeful for her chance at professional musicianship. While the group plays, Georgia realizes she would rather be anywhere else but feels drawn to stay because of one particular bandmate.

Also attending the celebration are a pair of roommates, Natasha and Jaqueline. While pretending to enjoy the music, they must confront what may be the end of their close relationship. Jaqueline's new boyfriend, Nigel, is suddenly thrown into the mix, and the roommates must figure out how-and if-he fits into their friendship. As the night continues, tensions rise and long held feelings are revealed. Georgia shares a regretful kiss; Nigel finds himself inside a stranger's house; Natasha loses track of her group and must rely on a complete stranger named Brent to help stave off her loneliness.

Following the year after the initial encounter, each of the character's relationships are tested by increasingly unusual circumstances. A photoshoot in an old warehouse full of mannequins. A newly developed habit of eating paper. A snowstorm forces an unexpected reunion on New Year's Eve.

Threaded by themes of celebrity, artistic integrity, and disillusionment, How Far a Night Can Reach explores all the strange and tender impulses we indulge in our search for intimacy and authenticity.

In How Far a Night Can Reach, Meghan Dairaghi invites us into a world of complex interconnection in which the threads of one person's life tug and vibrate down the resonant frequencies of every other. This is a world of long shadows, of secrets exchanged in alleys and concert halls and sticky-floored bars and bedrooms chilled with the draft of an oncoming storm. These characters' desires hum with urgency-to create, to connect, to be wanted, and, above all, to be truly known.

-Wendy Elizabeth Wallace, co-founding editor of Peatsmoke Journal

From two pairs of exes trapped in a snowstorm together to an acting class focused on teaching students to cry, How Far A Night Can Reach is filled with compelling scenarios that force Dairaghi's characters to face their mistakes and acknowledge their desires. Through this collection of interlinked stories, Dairaghi deftly builds a memorable world that is animated by vivid and unexpected details.

-Marian Crotty, Winner of the Autumn House Fiction Prize for Near Strangers