Read Ireland Book Reviews
Issue 433
Irish Fiction
Bad Day in Blackrock by Kevin Power
Trade Paperback; 15 Euro / 22 USD / 11 UK; 234 pages
On a late August night in 2004 a young man is kicked to death by his teammates outside a Dublin nightclub and celebration turns to devastation. The reverberations of that event, its genesis and aftermath, is the subject of this extraordinary story, stripping away the veneer of a generation of Celtic cubs, whose social and sexual mores are chronicled and dissected in this tract for our times. The victim, Conor Harris, his killers - three of them are charged with manslaughter - and the trial judge share common childhoods and schooling in the privileged echelons of south Dublin suburbia. The intertwining of these lives leaves their afflicted families in moral freefall as public exposure merges with private anguish and imploded futures.This stark, elliptical tale tells of catharsis and self-examination through the eyes of the narrator and Laura Haines, girlfriend, confidante and catalyst. Akin to Lionel Shriver's "We Need to Talk About Kevin", John Banville's "The Book of Evidence" and Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood", it deals with the unacceptable, and the nature of truth. Like all good fiction, it illuminates a society and transcends its age with the searchlight of a sympathetic imagination. It is a significant debut by an intuitive writer.
Bird in the Snow by Michael Harding
Trade Paperback; 15 Euro / 23 USD / 12 UK; 197 pages [Add To Basket]
"Bird in the Snow" follows twenty-four hours in the life of Birdie Waters, an elderly widow living alone. On the eve of burying her only son, she stays awake all night, examining old photographs, cherishing warm memories, and sometimes disturbed by uneasy ghosts from the past. She remembers her son and his growing up, and her beloved husband - a vet who married her because she could dance, despite the difference in their social class - and their wonderful life together. She recalls her son's tragic death, his failed romance, and Louise, who for a short while looked like the partner that might make her son happy. She remembers Hughie Donoghue a flute player whom she has known since childhood, and for whom she still harbours a delicate flame of intense but unspoken affection. In the morning, she goes to the funeral. When it is over, and all the mourners have dined in the local hotel, she returns alone to her own house, where each day is a kind of triumph, because she has survived a little longer. "Bird in the Snow" is the story of an old woman whose ordinary life is full of drama, love and passion, though perhaps nobody knows it but herself, because only she remembers everything. This beautifully rendered narrative evokes the rural past of an Irish matriarch looking back over the way-stations and men in her life, summoning memory to redress her bereavement through a series of poignant vignettes in a powerful act of retrieval.
Ball of Fire: Collected Stories by John Montague
Hardback; 25 Euro / 36 USD / 18 UK; 290 pages
A Ball of Fire collects the short stories of John Montague that have appeared in two collections Death of a Chieftain and A Love Present as well as including the early novella The Lost Notebook. While John Montague is more well-known for his poetry, his prose is similarly exact and evocative. This collection shows the timelessness of his work and its themes of alienation, longing and hidden tensions seem to remain prevalent amongst contemporary writers such as Claire Keegan and Kevin Barry. The Times Literary Supplement described Death of a Chieftain as a classic collection while A Love Present was described as a captivating and provocative read.
John Montague is one of Ireland s leading poets, and his work, which draws on that of various American masters, is recognised as being of international importance. He is the recipient of various awards, and his many published works include his recent memoir The Pear is Ripe, which was published by Liberties Press in autumn 2007 and received both widespread critical and popular acclaim. His 80th birthday is in February 2009 and is sure to be widely marked in Ireland in print and broadcast media.
Rogha Scealta by Padraic O Conaire
Paperback with Endflaps; 18 Euro / 24 USD / 12 UK; 210 pages [Add To Basket]
Cnuasach nua gearrscéalta ó pheann Phádraic Uí Chonaire le meascán éagsúil scéalta, cuid acu as cló le blianta fada. Arna roghnú ag Diarmuid de Faoite. A collection of short stories from Pádraic Ó Conaire which includes some stories not in print for many years. Diarmuid de Faoite chose the stories for this collection.
Open-Handed by Chris Binchy
Trade Paperback; 14 Euro / 22 USD / 11 UK; 256 pages
The place is Dublin. The time is the present. Five characters - two Irish, three from eastern Europe, all seeking success from wildly different starting points - become entangled with one another in a web of politics, property, sex and violence. Chris Binchy's breakthrough novel is a beautifully observed portrait of a time and place, and a thrillingly paced story of characters brought together by circumstance, ambition and need.
'Praise for Chris Binchy:' A razor-sharp portrait ... It's not just Rory's antics or his ambivalent take on the city in all its grubby splendour that make The Very Man such an enjoyable read -- it's Binchy's writing' Irish Times' There is a wonderful authenticity in his dialogue ... brims with the true atmosphere of Celtic Tiger Dublin' Demot Bolger, Evening Herald' One of our best emerging writers' Books Ireland'. 'A rattling tale of culture clash and frenzied capitalism. Binchy nails modern Dublin as a night-town of violence, sex and criminality' 'As lean and taut as a screenplay ... an essential book' (Sunday Tribune) 'A rattling tale of culture clash and frenzied capitalism' (RTE Guide) 'Searing ... sets several Celtic Tiger myths on their heads in a tour de force of characterization and crisp writing' (Sunday Independent)
John by Niall Williams
Trade Paperback; 13 Euro / 20 USD / 10 UK; 276 pages [Add To Basket]
John stands in the storm. He has no fear of any kind. He has outlived all manner of pain and been near enough to death to kiss its face and walk away. He has lived for a purpose and believes he knows what it is. Aged as dust, blind and perilously frail, John has walked ten thousand miles, more, to tell of love. He was from the beginning and will be at the end: he has lived to witness in a hundred years sights and scenes that cloud his mind. Of his disciples, there are few remaining, banished with him to the island of Patmos where they wait. They wait as storm clouds whip the island with rain.They wait for the world to free them from exile. They wait for signs that never come. Their belief starts to turn into agonising doubt as they are ravaged by bewilderment and impatience. Frustration and bitterness rage inside Matthias, forcing him to turn his back on his friends, his leader, and his belief. As the disciples' loyalty disintegrates into betrayal, Papias remains at John's side, tending to his old master with a constancy that is undiminished to the end of his life. Always, the shadow of grief follows them, for the love that has given their lives meaning was not shared by the rest of the world. Niall Williams' new novel is a prodigious feat of imagination written with poetic vision, and an unforgettable validation of courage and faith. Romantic, wild and passionate, "John" is the story of what it might be to love for a lifetime.
Reflections in a Tar-Barrell by Jack Harte
Paperback with Endflaps; 12 Euro / 18 USD / 9 UK; 240 pages [Add To Basket]
Does every human being think the body he or she inhabits is ugly? - The most beautiful fashion-model develops eating disorders because she believes her body to be flawed. - The hero of this novel, nick-named Lofty, thinks the Creator has dealt him a poor hand, physically and intellectually, and embarks on a campaign to thwart the designs of this same Creator.
His campaign sees him combine the roles of hawker in religious goods and keeper of a mobile brothel. Because of his eccentric manner, people consider him a half-wit. And his school experiences persuade him that this estimate is true. Yet, in a tragi-comic way, his untutored mind grapples with the gigantic themes, the nature of God and creation, death and reincarnation, Einsteinian time, and he arrives at his own world-view, his own mystical insights.
Set in the mid-seventies, this novel explores the world through the eyes of this eccentric young man, from the West of Ireland to Paris and Lourdes. The relationship he strikes up with a prostitute on the streets of Paris leads back to the woman-starved West of Ireland and into a sequence of events which hurtle towards disaster.
Boys are Elastic, Girls are Fantastic and The Punching Man by Marsha Swan
Paperback; 13 Euro / 20 USD / 10 UK; 320 pages [Add To Basket]
In The Punching Man, Remus, a young Roma boy adrift in Dublin, becomes intrigued by a man he sees punch a stranger on the street. When Remus and his friends begin following the man, it quickly becomes unclear who is following whom. But Remus has even less comprehension of the biggest things in his life: the family who will adopt him, the country he will live in, how he will make his way in a new and daunting city.
In Boys Are Elastic, Girls Are Fantastic, Ruth abandons her life and career in Chicago to move to Dublin. She marries a man she met on holiday there, even though she doesn’t fully understand why—at 46—she’s suddenly ready to gamble on romance. The life she might have had changes abruptly when she is diagnosed with breast cancer and decides to take a challenging job in the Christian Brothers school where Remus is now a student.
These interlocking novellas, published in one edition, offer two foreigners’ perspectives on a city where they quickly find themselves fighting against shadows: a culture they don’t understand and don’t have access to; bullies on the schoolyard and in the staffroom; a mysterious stranger or a mysterious disease. In this finely observed portrait of Ireland at the turn of the 21st century, Marsha Swan writes with a stark lyricism, giving voice to two very different characters navigating enormous change with hope and dignity.
Enchanting Alice by Anne Dunlop
Large Format Trade Paperback; 15 Euro / 23 USD /11 UK; 354 pages [Add To Basket]
Farming, babies, sex, eccentricity; all the quirkiness and wit Anne Dunlop's fans expect and then some! Jane was seventeen when Michael whisked her away to the wetlands of rural Ireland to share a farmhouse and their marriage with his mother who sleepwalks, his father who snores and an unmarried sister who hates her. It was never going to work. Jane pulls on her wellies and keeps walking till she reaches street lighting, pavements and independence. She moves into Stove Pipe Town. Michael stays and continues to farm his cows will always come first. Their children are born and Jane stops missing him. Then she goes to a rock concert. Dressed to kill in her black halter-neck frock, Jane catches the eye of the lead singer who smoulders from every poster on every lamppost in Ireland. He invites her up on the stage to dance . . . Jane's little dull world is about to turn upside down!
Second Chances by Martina Reilly
Large Format Trade Paperback; 14 Euro / 22 USD / 10 UK; 370 pages [Add To Basket]
Lizzie Walsh has moved to Dublin to start her life again ? she has a great job as a fundraiser, a boyfriend she's crazy about and friends she loves. Until, leaving work late one evening, she runs into the one person she just can't run away from. Lizzie was only a teenager when, ten years ago, her sister Megan drowned. A local boy, Joe, was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder. Now Joe is back, released from prison on good behaviour, and he, too, wants to put the past to rest. But Lizzie can't stop thinking about the pain he's caused her family ? it doesn't seem fair that he should be able to let go. Then, as Lizzie slowly gains his confidence, her own falters: Joe isn't quite what she expected. Can she find the strength to let old wounds heal?
A Dance in Time by Orna Ross
Large Format Trade Paperback; 14 Euro / 22 USD / 10 UK; 610 pages [Add To Basket]
Iseult 'Izzy' Mulcahy is a mother and a woman in love, a writer and a thinker - and the last person anyone would expect to commit murder ...After being charged with killing her father, rather than fight for her freedom, Izzy escapes into the past - her own past and that of the famous Iseult Gonne, after whom she was named. Izzy has spent her adult life in America and it has given her independence, a dream to follow, and the loves of her life - her daughter, Star, and her soul-mate, Zach. But the burden of illegitimacy, and a readiness to sacrifice ambition for love, inhibited Izzy, as they did the other Iseult. As Izzy sets down Iseult's story and unravels her own past, she comes to understand why she returned to Ireland and the father she hated. But to her dismay, she also realizes that when she stands up in court her testimony will have a devastating effect on the two people who mean the most to her...
I Remember by Noelle Harrison
Large Format Paperback; 13 Euro / 20 USD / 10 UK; 261 pages [Add To Basket]
This is a wonderfully evocative and atmospheric novel from the author of "A Small Part Of Me".It is 1985, and John and Olivia Finch employ Barbara as an au pair to their only child, Matilda - whose seemingly continual illnesses encourage her spoilt and demanding behaviour. When Barbara accompanies the family on their summer holiday to Olivia's native Camargue in the South of France, with its famous white horses, black bulls and pink flamingos, she's conscious that all is not as it seems. As the days go by, she becomes more and more convinced that there is something odd about Matilda's illness - is it possible that one of her parents is intentionally causing her ill health?Olivia's brother, Pascal, the enigmatic 'gardien' cowboy of the Camargue, could be the one to help her. He has awakened in Barbara a sense of her own sexuality - but is he someone she could trust to help her save Matilda? As she sees the child grow weaker, Barbara's dreams are haunted by a tragic accident within her own family for which she has always blamed herself. Miraculously, it is Matilda who finally offers her redemption encouraging her to take drastic but necessary action.
Forever Friends by Kate McCabe
Large Format Trade Paperback; 15 Euro / 23 USD / 11 UK; 430 pages [Add To Basket]
Forever Friends is set in the highly glamorous and competitive world of the property market. A complex plot, a strong heroine and a little romance all the ingredients for a riveting read! Maddy Pritchard is a young estate agent determined to make her way in the male-dominated world of high finance. When she finds the man of her dreams and then loses him, her life seems to fall to pieces. But Maddy picks herself up and fights on to eventual success. The story's theme is the enduring nature of female friendships. The novel combines Kate McCabe's proven trademarks of strong story-telling, suspense and humour.
The Lemur by Benjamin Black (aka John Banville)
Trade Paperback; 12 Euro / 18 USD / 9 UK; 185 pages [Add To Basket]
Commissioned as a high profile serial by the "New York Times Magazine", "The Lemur" is a stylish new thriller from a rising star of literary crime. William ('Wild Bill') Mulholland is an Irish-American electronics billionaire. An ex-CIA operative, he now heads up the Mulholland Trust, with the help of his daughter Louise. When Mulholland gets wind of a hostile biography planned for him by the investigative journalist Wilson Cleaver, he commissions his daughter's husband, John Glass, to pen the official line. But Glass' young researcher tries to blackmail him, and Glass is horrified, fearing that his own secrets, as well as the Mulhollands', are at risk. He slings him off the project, only to hear from the NYPD that this man he has nicknamed 'The Lemur' has been found shot to death...Silence cannot be bought - even by one of New York's wealthiest families. Riddled with explosive secrets, "The Lemur" is a brilliant contemporary thriller that sees Benjamin Black at the top of his game.
American Skin by Ken Bruen
Hardback; 20 Euro / 30 USD / 15 UK; 281 pages [Add To Basket]
Stephen Blake is a good man blown in bad directions. He and girlfriend Siobhan, best friend Tommy, IRA terrorist Stapleton, and a particularly American sort of psychopath named Dade, are all on a collision course somewhere on the road between the dive bars of New York, and the pitiless desert of the Southwest. American Skin is the long-awaited American novel by Ken Bruen, the hardboiled master of Irish Noir.
The Beautiful Sound of Silence by Paul Charles
Hardback; 20 Euro / 30 USD / 15 UK; 285 pages [Add To Basket]
In the ninth DI Christy Kennedy mystery Kennedy investigates the murder of a colleague whose `the ends justify the means' work ethic created numerous enemies. An annual Halloween Bonfire goes horribly wrong when a body is spotted in the middle of the fire's glowing timbers. Identifiable only through his dental records, the victim is retired police Superintendent David Peters, an ex-colleague of DI Christy Kennedy. As Kennedy and his team settle down to a painstaking search through Peters' cases, they soon discover that for the superintendent the means justified the end in solving them, and each case they review throws up another suspect.
Soul Murder by Andrew Nugent
Large Format Paperback; 13 Euro / 20 USD / 10 UK; 280 pages [Add To Basket]
All murders are shocking, none more so than a death in a school . . . When Maurice Tyson, housemaster in a top boys boarding school in Ireland, is found on the floor of a dormitory with his throat slit, even Superintendent Denis Lennon and Sergeant Molly Power of the Irish Police Force are shaken but, above all, perplexed. Is it a revenge killing? Has a kidnap attempt by terrorist operatives gone badly wrong? Or is there a connection to a former student who killed himself in a horrible way barely a year ago? Then a boy mysteriously disappears and, as the hunt gets underway for his abductors, events take a further dark turn. Sir Neville Randler, former occupant of the castle that the school now occupies, is found murdered bearing the signature mark of a slit throat. Someone out there has an awful lot to hide and will stop at nothing...
Undertow by Arlene Hunt
Large Format Trade Paperback; 13 Euro / 20 USD / 10 UK; 350 pages [Add To Basket]
A missing boyfriend ! a heavily pregnant girlfriend ! just another ordinary case for QuicK Investigations. But the trail they follow suggests something far from ordinary. Who is Orie Kavlar and why has he gone to ground? What is the connection to the body of a dead girl found on waste ground in Sandyford? And what is his relationship to Darren Wallace, ex-gangland criminal? With their personal relationship at a new all-time low, Sarah and John are straining under the weight of their own problems: like the murder of Sarah's ex-boyfriend Vic. Vic was a dangerous psychotic, but murder is murder. So why won't she accept John's help? In no time John and Sarah's investigations alert others to their search and as they dig deeper into Orie Kavlar's life, one man decides he has too much to lose to allow them to continue. Sarah and John are about to be caught up in an undertow of violence that will suck them into their most perilous case yet.
Where No One Can Hear You Scream by Sarah McInerney
Trade Paperback; 13 Euro / 20 USD / 10 UK; 246 pages, with a 16-page photo insert [Add To Basket]
Since 1925, a startling number of young women have been found dead in the Dublin-Wicklow Mountains. The small winding roads, the dense foliage and the isolation have combined to make the area a favourite burial ground. "Where No One Can Hear You Scream" is a chilling review of the known cases of murder and assault that have taken place in Ireland's largest national park.
Nights Beneath the Nation by Denis Kehoe
Trade Paperback; 13 Euro / 20 USD / 10 UK; 245 pages [Add To Basket]
Sixty-seven-year-old Daniel Ryan returns to Dublin after fleeing to New York decades earlier, following the end of his love affair with Anthony. His return to the city is a reluctant but necessary journey to exorcise the ghosts of his past. Homosexuality in 1950s Ireland was a furtive, dangerous pursuit. Daniel and Anthony's relationship was conducted amid the relative security of their bohemian theatre group, run by Maeve, a glamorous woman without much regard for social norms or concern for her reputation among the chattering classes.Cut to the 1990s and not much has changed - liaisons are still conducted in alleyways and seedy saunas. In an effort to escape attention on his return, Daniel tells people he is American, but a promiscuous young man embroils him in a cat and mouse game which threatens to expose his buried history.'It's only from the distance of years that I can put the weeks that followed into perspective. Life carried on as normal, as it does, at least on the outside, but inside I was a mess. It was a turbulent and terrifying time for me. But it was also a beautiful, vital time, when new doors opened before me.
Life became something I lived, instead of something I watched from the sidelines. I'm not saying I'd want to go through the madness, the uncertainty, the despair and the sheer terror of those weeks again, but when I look back on that time now I can't help but feel a certain nostalgia for it. There are so few times in life when the world takes on completely new dimensions, when everything changes, and for me this was one of them. In Dublin I discovered my desire, I discovered myself, and this city and that discovery can never be separated in my mind. Perhaps that's why I had to come back, because so much of me is here, stretched across these streets.'
The Sea and the Silence by Peter Cunningham
Large Format Trade Paperback; 14 Euro / 21 USD / 10 UK; 254 pages [Add To Basket]
Peter Cunningham's latest novel is set in Monument, the scene for three of his previous books. It tells the story of Iz, a young woman trapped in an unhappy, adulterous marriage, and how she is haunted by a great love in her past.
Feels Like Maybe by Claire Allen
Large Format Trade Paperback; 14 Euro / 22 USD / 11 UK; 434 pages [Add To Basket]
Aoife is 32 and in an on/off relationship with sexy singer Jake. When she finds out she is pregnant, he decides the relationship is most definitely off. Desperate to get him back- and convinced she can- Aoife doesn't tell her parents back home in Derry about her impending arrival until her episiotomy stitches are healing. She then has to return home to face the music - baby in tow and sanity absent without leave. Meanwhile her best friend has been keeping a secret of her own. Beth and her husband Dan have been trying to get pregnant for the past two years. According to the doctors there is no medical reason for their failure to conceive. And if there is no reason, there can't be a problem can there? Add a gorgeous gardener, an overbearing mother, a perfectly annoying sister-in-law and a well meaning aunt, - all with secrets of their own - into the mix and you have Feels Like Maybe.'
Before I Forget by Melissa Hill
Large Format Trade Paperback; 13 Euro / 20 USD / 9 UK; 342 pages [Add To Basket]
Abby’s memories are her most precious thing. Even though they’re sometimes painful, she can’t stop herself looking back, reliving the love of her life. Until a freak accident means that she could lose it all: every memory and experience she has ever had. Abby can’t believe it’s true. She feels fine. She is fine. How could she possibly forget all those moments that make her who she is? She’s determined to fight it. With the help of her friends and family, Abby makes a list of things she’s always wanted to do. She’s going to save her memory by having the most unforgettable year of her life.
Thanks for the Memories by Cecelia Ahern
Paperback; 8 Euro / 12 USD / 6 UK; 489 pages [Add To Basket]
How can you know someone you've never met? Joyce Conway remembers things she shouldn't. She knows about tiny cobbled streets in Paris, which she has never visited. And every night she dreams about an unknown girl with blonde hair. Justin Hitchcock is divorced, lonely and restless. He arrives in Dublin to give a lecture on art and meets an attractive doctor, who persuades him to donate blood. It's the first thing to come straight from his heart in a long time. When Joyce leaves hospital after a terrible accident, with her life and her marriage in pieces, she moves back in with her elderly father. All the while, a strong sense of déjà vu is overwhelming her and she can't figure out why...
Sleep Softly Baby by Carol Magill
Paperback; 10 Euro / 14 USD / 7 UK; 473 pages [Add To Basket]
Handsome, clever, and heir to a fortune Harry Kavanagh is the dream eligible bachelor. But it is Erin O'Neill newly arrived in Dublin to pursue a career as a journalist who captures his heart. And she falls equally in love with him. But when he takes her to live in Belvedere, the austere family home, things begin to go wrong and they culminate in the arrival of their first child baby Emily. Erin now finds herself overtaken by nightmarish events where she can trust no one, not even her own husband, and where evil seems to seep out from the very house itself. A gripping tale of passion, love, intrigue and revenge and one woman's struggle to survive against dark forces.
The Matchmaker by Marita Conlon McKenna
Trade Paperback; 8 Euro / 12 USD / 6 UK; 440 pages [Add To Basket]
Maggie Ryan can’t help it! She constantly finds herself trying to match things and people together and with three bright, beautiful, single daughters she decides that a little romantic matching is needed. However, Maggie’s quest to find the perfect partner for each of her reluctant daughters is proving difficult. Grace has had enough of heartbreak and given up on men, deciding instead to concentrate on her career, and Anna believes that no man can ever live up to her romantic ideals. While single-parent Sarah devotes so much time to her little girl Evie that romance constantly passes her by. Determined to get ‘rings on those fingers’ Maggie Ryan believes that the arrival of new neighbour, bachelor Mark McGuinness, is an opportunity far too good to be missed!
This Year It Will Be Different: Stories by Maeve Binchy
Paperback; 9 Euro / 12 USD / 6 UK; 415 pages [Add To Basket]
Filled with Maeve Binchy's trademark wit and true storytelling genius, This Year It Will Be Different, powerfully evokes the lives of wives, husbands, children, friends and lovers. There are step-families grappling with exes; long-married couples faced with in-law problems; a wandering husband choosing between the other woman and his wife; a child caught up in a grown-up tug-of-war...Warm, witty and with a deep understanding of what makes us tick, This Year It Will Be Different superbly demonstrates why Maeve Binchy's stories have become world-beaters.
Snow White Turtle Doves by Juliet Bressan
Trade Paperback; 10 Euro / 13 USD / 7 UK; 383 pages [Add To Basket]
Snow White Turtle Doves is a contemporary love story set to the backdrop of the implications of the Iraq war. It is June 2004, and Ireland is preparing for the visit of George W Bush. Beautiful, tempestuous Isabella is struggling to hold onto Harry, while his passion for world politics pulls him away from her and into the antiwar protest movement. Sinead is a doctor whose experience of Baghdad during the first gulf war has changed her life. Moved by the letters she receives from Moussa, a surgeon in Iraq, Sinead joins the protest against the Bush visit to Shannon. But her campaign against the war quickly turns into a campaign of love for Harry. After a night of passion with Sinead, Harry fails to come home, Isabella makes her final decision and walks out on him, flying straight to New York without even saying goodbye. Will life ever be the same again?
Please note: Prices were correct at time of original posting but are subject to subsequent change without notice.
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