Read Ireland Book News - Issue 51
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The Return Journey: Stories by Maeve Binchy (Hardback; 12.95 IRP / 19.95 USD) [Add To Basket]
In this extraordinary collection of short stories, Ireland's best-selling author once again reveals her incomparable understanding of matters of the heart. In this book, Maeve Binchy brings us sons and lovers, daughters and strangers, husbands and wives in their infinite variety - powerfully compelling stories of love, loss, revelation and reconciliation.
A secretary's silent passion for her boss meets the acid test on a business trip … A man and woman's mutual disdain at first sight shows how deceptive appearances can be … An insecure wife clings to the illusion of order, only to discover chaos at the hands of a house sitter who opens the wrong doors … A pair of star-crossed travellers take each other'' bags, and the learn that when you unlock a stranger's suitcase, you enter a stranger's life.
In their company are many more, whose poignant, ironic, often humorous stories - unforgettable slices of life - make up this book, a spellbinding trip into the human heart.
This Year It Will Be Different and other Stories by Maeve Binchy (Paperback; 5.99 IRP / 8.99 USD) [Add To Basket]
This stunning collection of 15 stories are filled with Maeve Binchy's trademark wit, charm and sheer storytelling genius. In 'A Typical Irish Christmas,' a grieving widower heads for a holiday in Ireland and finds an unexpected destination not just for himself, but for a father and daughter in crisis … In 'Pulling Together,' a teacher not yet out of her twenties sees her affair with a married man at a turning point … An in the title story a woman with a complacent husband and grown children enters a season that will forever alter her life, and theirs … These stories and a dozen more powerfully evoke many lives - from step-families grappling with ex's to children caught in grown-up tugs of war. The situations are timeless and the author makes the reader care about the all.
The Irish Kennedys: the Story of the "Rebellious O'Kennedys" by Brian Patrick Kennedy (Paperback; 9.99 IRP / 15.00 USD) [Add To Basket]
The Irish Kennedys have a recorded history that goes back over 1000 years to the time when the first Kennedy led his people from the front with sword and spear. The Irish Kennedys held their ancestral lands in Tipperary for hundreds of years while a succession of English conquerors tried to take it from them. Although they eventually succeeded in taking the lands, the English did not do so without fierce resistance from the family the dubbed 'The Rebellious O'Kennedys.' This book traces the story of the Kennedy family from their beginnings as an obscure sect on the banks of the Shannon river, through their rise to fame as the 'Lords of Ormond,' to their decline as the last of the Gaelic Chieftains and to their dispersal around the world. It describes how the author in far off Australia was able to trace his roots and establish his connections with 'The Rebellious O'Kennedys.' The book brings to light the determination and persistence of this remarkable family and explores their territory, their forts and castles and their way of life as these were interwoven with the larger canvas of Irish history.
A Tourist Guide to Ireland by Liam O'Flaherty (Paperback; 6.99 IRP / 10.00 USD) [Add To Basket]
First published in 1929, this book is a masterful satire by one of Ireland's greatest writers. 'Welcome to Ireland - a gloriously uncivilised land maintained in its virgin state by those four mighty pillars of society: the parish priest, the politician, the peasant and the publican. The waves of progress will never undermine the sacred values upon which our great nation is founded. As long as these bastions stand, Ireland's glory is safe from the evils of modern civilisation.' … and so say all of us!
Celtic Myths and Legends by Eoin Neeson (Paperback; 6.99 IRP / 10.00 USD) [Add To Basket]
In this book the author delves into the past and retells the stories of Celtic myth and legend with a directness and simplicity which makes them refreshingly modern. The stories, with plenty of intrigue, romance and excitement, have a literary merit and a style and character of their own. Included in the extensive collection are: The Children of Lir, The Wooing of Etain, Diarmuid and Grainne, The Combat at the Ford, The Children of Tuireann, The Sickbed of Cuchulain and Deidre and the Sons of Usna.
Not All At Sea by George O'Brien Kennedy Frina (Paperback; 22.00 IRP / 33.00 USD) [Add To Basket]
A Fellow of the Royal Institute of Naval Architects, the author has enjoyed several distinguished careers in Britain, India and his native Ireland. After apprenticeships in British shipyards and aircraft manufacturers, Kennedy set up a boat design and manufacturing business in England. He worked on naval craft during the Second World War, after which he became a successful yacht and dinghy designer in Britain. His next career was in Bombay where he was involved with the design of tugs, harbour launches and fire fighting vessels. Kennedy then returned to Ireland and the Shannon in 1960. He was the first to see the potential of the Shannon for hire cruising and he 'invented' the river as a popular tourist destination. He designed and built his own fleet of hire cruisers, and also found time to design the Kerry class of yacht, and compete in the Round Britain and Ireland race. Now in his eighties, he is still involved in boat design at his home on the banks of the Shannon.
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