Her mother's funeral is the tipping point for Ida Irons. Fast approaching 30, reckless with alcohol and decisions, she has spent her life living in the shadow of her mother – the secretive writer Bridie Adair – and an infamous play which she was named after. Ida must return to the family she left behind, and try to survive what she suspects will be a horrendous ordeal. Fractured family ties and flashbacks craft a picture of what brought Ida and her sister Alice to this point, while also revealing who their mother really was.

Amy Mason’s novel has just won the Dundee International Book Prize, and she certainly knows how to connect the reader to her characters. Despite Ida's emotional damage and brash attitude, she incites a fierce desire to understand her troubles and discover a real place in the world. Far from the tough and uncaring exterior she presents after her mother's death, her story is a warm journey of soul-searching in a world where everyone thinks they know you. Mason digs deeper behind her bravado with such charm that makes The Other Ida difficult to put down.