Book news, reviews and recommendations
Liadan Ní Chuinn’s debut collection comes garlanded with praise from a fistful of my favourite Irish writers including Wendy Erskine, Louise Kennedy and Lucy Caldwell, all heralding the arrival of a brilliant new talent. Every One Still Here comprises six stories, several quite brief, bookended by two lengthier pieces, all more than worthy of a […]
Every One Still Here by Liadan Ní Chuinn: A hard legacy Read More »
My reading year’s off to a great start with a book by an author whose name I’ve spotted frequently in my Twitter timeline but somehow never got around to reading. Given that I wasn’t entirely persuaded by its premise, it was those tweets from so many readers I trust that tipped the balance in favour
The Raptures by Jan Carson: ‘You people can’t see anything but yourselves’ Read More »
I’m not a thriller kind of gal – well only the televised kind, usually with a Scandiland backdrop – but the setting of Annemarie Neary’s debut and the fact that I was still hauling myself out of my flu-induced reading slump before going on holiday made me reach for it. It’s the story of Róisín,
Siren by Annemarie Neary: The past is a foreign country Read More »
Only four books into the year and two have already aroused strong feelings. David Vann’s Dirt was not a happy experience nor, I’m sure, was it meant to be given that it’s a study in what happens when parents smother their children in controlling affection, but the final section in which the mother gets her
Ghost Moth by Michèle Forbes: A beautifully expressed debut Read More »