Book news, reviews and recommendations
I’d been so impressed by Wendy Erskine’s quietly brilliant short story collection, Dance Move, that I jumped at the chance to read her debut novel. Set in Belfast, The Benefactors follows the fallout from the rape of a young woman by three boys she’d thought were her friends. Being with their mum felt like when […]
The Benefactors by Wendy Erskine: Family first Read More »
I couldn’t resist Thirst Trap given how many debuts from young Irish women have hit the spot for me in recent years. Gráinne O’Hare’s novel is about three friends on the cusp of thirty living in the same house they shared with a fourth, killed in a car accident a year before. ‘Lidl,’ Cate said, almost
Thirst Trap by Gráinne O’Hare: Arrested development Read More »
I was pitched Paddy Crewe’s True Love because of my liking for Donal Ryan. Ever sceptical of such comparisons, I checked out Goodreads to find two Ryan mentions then twigged that Crewe was the author of My Name is Yip which has been sitting on my TBR shelves for a while. It seemed a safe
True Love by Paddy Crewe: Love and healing Read More »
I was surprised and delighted when a proof of Mary Costello’s new short story collection popped through my letter box. I’d had no inkling that there was a new one on the horizon from her. Academy Street, her 2014 novella, is one of my favourite books, epitomising the spare, quietly understated style I so admire.
Barcelona by Mary Costello: A curate’s egg Read More »
I’ve long had a penchant for Irish writing but either that’s becoming more pronounced or there are even more fine writers being published from that country. Whichever it is, that was what drew me to Noel O’Regan’s Though the Bodies Fall set on a stretch of Kerry headland which has been a suicide black spot
Though the Bodies Fall by Noel O’Regan: Mother’s little helper Read More »
I spent quite some time dithering about whether to put my hand up for Lauren Mackenzie’s The Couples. The premise seemed a wee bit tacky: three couples go away together, shedding their domestic responsibilities, get wasted and embark on a game of partner swapping. What swung it for me was Mackenzie’s screenwriting credentials and Stinging
The Couples by Lauren Mackenzie: A grown up Sally Rooney Read More »
Colin Walsh’s Kala was the subject of the kind of prepublication brouhaha that usually puts me off plus it’s a thriller but Walsh is a Stinging Fly contributor and it’s published by one of my favourite publishers which was enough to make me want to read it. Set in an Irish seaside town, Walsh’s novel
Kala by Colin Walsh: Secrets and lies in small town Ireland Read More »
I was delighted to spot Sheila Armstrong’s first novel in the publishing schedules having been so impressed with her short story collection, How to Gut a Fish. That had a touch of the surreal about it which I half expected from Falling Animals, given it’s slightly disconcerting, rather lovely cover, but Armstrong’s novel is not
Falling Animals by Sheila Armstrong: For those in peril on the sea Read More »
Having enjoyed Sarah Gilmartin’s exploration of grief and family dynamics, Dinner Party, a couple of years ago I was keen to read Service. Even more so when I found it was set in a restaurant. Gilmartin’s second novel follows a celebrity chef faced with a reckoning, his wife who has chosen not to examine his
Service by Sarah Gilmartin: Three sides to a story Read More »
I would have been keen to read Nicole Flattery’s first novel anyway, having enjoyed her excellent short story collection, Show Them a Good Time, but its premise is intriguing. In 1967, two young high school students helped transcribe tapes of conversations and monologues made by Andy Warhol’s coterie on which he based A Novel. Flattery’s
Nothing Special by Nicole Flattery: ‘I could become someone of my own invention’ Read More »
Donal Ryan is one of those authors whose name makes my heart sing when I see it in the publishing schedules. The Queen of Dirt Island popped up quite some time before it was due to be published and I snapped it up on NetGalley. Opening with a beginning and an end, it follows four
The Queen of Dirt Island by Donal Ryan: ‘Time will wind its own sweet way’ Read More »