Read Ireland Book Review
Issue 200
New Irish Fiction
In the Forest by Edna O'Brien
Trade Paperback; 15.00 Euro / 13.50 USD / 12.50 UK; 217 pages, Weidenfeld Nicholson [Add To Basket]
The popular Irish author returns to the countryside of western Ireland in this controversial book. As with her previous novel, 'Wild Decembers', murder is again the story's climax, but the killer's motives are deeply buried in his mind. Michen O'Kane has lost his mother as a boy and, by the age of ten, is incarcerated for petty crimes in juvenile detention centres, 'the places named after saints.' But his problems go beyond early loss and sexual abuse - the killing instinct is already kindled in him. He is named by fearful neighbours the Kinderschreck, someone of whom small children are afraid. As in Greek tragedy, this novel is not without unwitting victims for sacrifice - a radiant young woman, her little son, and a trusting priest, all despatched to the forest of O'Kane's unbridled, deranged fantasies. Based on true events that still resonate in this part of Ireland, this riveting, frightening and brilliantly told novel reminds the reader that anything can happen 'outside the boundary of mother and child', when protection isn't afforded to either perpetrator or victim.
My Lover's Lover by Maggie O'Farrell
Hardback; 18.99 Euro / 17.50 USD / 16.50 UK; Review, 322 pages [Add To Basket]
Lily meets Marcus, an elusive but magnetic architect, on a pavement outside a gallery. Within a week she has moved into his echoing warehouse apartment in East London. But nothing could have prepared her for what she finds there. A distinct presence haunts the flat, that of a woman who seems to have left in a hurry, leaving behind a single dress hanging in the wardrobe, a mysterious mark on the wall and the suffocating, lingering odour of jasmine.
Marcus, deep in private grief, refuses to talk about it. Only the flat's other inhabitant, Aidan, seems to understand Lily's unease, but he won't explain or even discuss what took place before her arrival. Who was this woman? And what exactly were the circumstances of her sudden disappearance?
This book, from one of Ireland's most exciting young writers, is a sensual and unnerving story of passion, attachment and the strange, indissoluble connection we have with our partners' former lovers. It is a gripping novel about how, even at the end of a relationship, everything is far from over.
The Sirius Crossing by John Creed
Trade Paperback; 19.80 Euro / 17.50 USD / 10.99 UK ; 213 pages; Faber [Add To Basket]
This book is a taut, gripping and intelligent thriller for one of Ireland's finest contemporary authors. Jack Valentine has been in the intelligence game too long and it is starting to show, but he accepts one more mission - he always does. It seems like a simple task but it throws up deadly questions and he doesn't know the answers. What were American Special Forces doing in Ireland twenty-five years ago and why does it matter now? What is the thread which leads from a deserted mountainside to the offices of the White House? Suddenly he has information that everybody wants and he finds himself the quarry in a pitiless chase.
The Power of a Woman by Suzanne Higgins
Trade Paperback; 12.99 Euro / 11.50 USD / 8.99 UK ; 350 pages; Poolbeg [Add To Basket]
Richard Dalton, mega-rich proprietor of Rock FM is gorgeous and ruthless! Saskia, his wife, is loving and obliging until she discovers a few of her husband's darker secrets. With their three daughters, they live in the beautiful village of Ballymore, where the arrival of a mystery celebrity causes ripples of excitement as rumours spread of his radical plans for the run-down Rathdeen Manor. Meanwhile, Sue, breathtakingly beautiful wife of the famous clothing chain-store entrepreneur David Parker, is slowly being destroyed by a dangerous secret that she cannot share with him. As Richard's business empire continues to grow, so too does his depravity. Facing despair, Saskia realises that for her sake and that of her children she has no choice. She has to fight back …
Mother to a Stranger by Leland Bardwell
Paperback; 11.99 Euro / 10.50 USD / 8.99 UK; Blackstaff Press, 186 pages [Add To Basket]
Nan and Jim have a good, strong marriage. Each has their own career - she is a successful concert pianist and he is an archaeologist. Together they have been living a congenial life of self-sufficiency in north-west Ireland. But the arrival of a solicitor's letter one hot summer's morning will undermine their idyll, perhaps fatally. A young man claiming to be Nan's son - a son Jim knows nothing about - is anxious to meet her. Writing with rare subtlety and great emotional insight, the author portrays a marriage under almost intolerable strain as she charts the halting attempts of Nan, Jim and the intruder son Charles to find a way towards a new set of relationships. This is an exceptional novel about the devastating power of secrets from one of Ireland's most respected writers.
No Christian Grave by Edmund Power
Trade Paperback; 12.70 Euro / 11.50 USD / 10.00 UK; Town House; 402 pages [Add To Basket]
It should have been the start of the rest of their lives and indeed it was, but not in the way they had imagined. On the ever of their university careers, two friends from a small southern Irish town hope to celebrate their impending adulthood through another rite of passage. But their first sexual encounter ends in a shocking incident, one that threatens to ruin their lives forever. Especially if they choose to hide the evidence that the terrible events of that night never happened. This novel is an emotionally powerful story of male friendship under strain, of bonding and unraveling, of small town concerns and big time deeds, of black secrets and protracted humiliation. An original new voice from rural Ireland, but unsentimental and poignant, Edmund Power provokes the reader into considering what they would have done differently, if placed in the same gut-wrenching situation.
Standing in a Hammock by Paula Clamp
Paperback; 8.99 Euro / 7.99 USD / 6.50 UK; Poolbeg, 390 pages [Add To Basket]
Ashbury, middle-class suburbia, where curtains and blinds thinly veil the passions and heartaches that lie within. At Number 2 - the husband's waistband's expanding, but the wife wears the trousers. At Number 3 - there's an earth mother staying in, but a siren bursting to come out. At Number 7 - she's gorgeous, she's sexy, and she wears the kitten heals, but why is she home alone? And at Number 8 - the silence is deafening; the curtains are drawn … again. Over the space of single weekend, the lives of five of its residents are thrown off balance as they learn about each other and the secrets they hold.
The Art of Lost Luggage by Amanada Murphy
Paperback; 8.99 Euro / 7.99 USD / 6.50 UK; Poolbeg, 310 pages [Add To Basket]
Samantha Jordan is 'independent and opinionated' or a 'bit of a stroppy cow', depending on who you ask. The truth is: she's a tough cookie with a very soft centre. Management consultant for a Finnish company, she is also extremely efficient, but for one fact: her inability to fly between any two points and arrive at the same time as her luggage. Samantha figures that it's her lot in life to be luggage-less. Then the airline assigns the blindingly gorgeous Dominic to her case (literally) and a certain business relationship takes off in a romantic direction. With two men in her life - but still no luggage - things a definitely looking up.
Irish Girls About Town by Maeve Binchy et. al.
Paperback; 9.99 Euro / 8.99 USD / 7.99 UK; Town House Pocket Books, 378 pages [Add To Basket]
When it comes to spinning a good yarn - creating stories that tug at your heartstrings or make you cry with laughter - the Irish are the best in the business! Together for the first time in this anthology, some of Ireland's best-loved women writers have honed their remarkable talents in aid of Barnardo's Children Trust and the Saint Vincent De Paul Society. The stories are written by Maeve Binchy, Julie Parsons, Tina Reilly, Colette Caddle, Mary Ryan, Catherine Dunne, Gemma O'Connor, Sarah Webb, Morag Prunty, Cathy Kelly, Martina Devlin, Joan O'Neill,. Marisa Mackle, Marian Keyes, Catherine Barry and Annie Sparrow.
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