New Island Novellas

Private Detective John Blaine is back treading Dublin's mean streets. With his marriage now on track, and little baby Emily to keep his attentions closer to home, it could be said that things are going better than ever for the private eye. That is until he gets a call from Bertie Boyer, owner of the Purple Pussy nightclub in Dublin's Temple bar. He hires the P.I. to warn off some Romanian immigrants who are threatening to burn the place down. But the Romanians have a different tale to tell. Blaine smells a rat. But who is fooling whom? Time is running out fast, and before he knows it, Blaine finds himself right in the centre of the blaze. This novella is a gripping and funny tale of life on the wrong side of the tracks. (Autographed copies of this title only are available upon request.)

John Blaine is a private detective who walks Dublin's mean streets. He is tough and smart, but unlucky in love - his wife has just left him. Hired to bring home a straying daughter, he takes the girl's side against her rich father, and suffers for it. (Autographed copies of this title only are available upon request.)

Nan Ryan lives by herself at Number 14 Chestnut Road. When it's heard that the builders are coming to work on the deserted house next door, everyone has an opinion. Nan's three grown-up children reckon she won't get a moment of peace. Not to mention the mess they'll create. Or the fat that she'll end up becoming their tea lady. But when Derek Doyle's shiny van arrives outside number 12, Nan is secretly excited. And when the handsome builder looks to Nan to help unravel the mystery of the previous residents' vanishing, a special friendship begins to flourish. But as they soon discover, nothing is quite what it at first seems.

Eoin tells his son the story of Euro 88. The excitement is high for football fanatics like Eoin, Shane and Mick, who all work abroad. Now they are in Germany supporting the Irish team, witnessing the highs and the lows. For these emigrant friends, home is no longer where the heart is; home is where the Irish team plays. And there will be many adventures both on and off the pitch before the final whistle blows. Also included is 'A Poet's Notebook', a selection of short poems about ordinary life with the author's notes on how and why they were written.

Danny Murphy is going to meet his brother Jimmy. They haven't seen each other in over twenty years. On the way to the meeting, Danny remembers the good times and the bad times, the fun and the fights - and the one big row that drove them apart. Will they fight again or will they become the friends they used to be? Danny doesn't know.

Elsie and Maisie are sisters. They live on opposite side of the Atlantic. Regular letter writers, they like to boast about their respective families. But over time, the gulf between fact and fiction is getting bigger than the ocean that divides them. So when a letter arrives from Chicago saying that Maisie's granddaughter is coming over to star with her Irish family, Elsie must face the truth at last. And with neither posh house nor pony to be found for miles, this working-class family has quite a mix-up on its hands.

Lizzie is dead - she just hasn't realized it yet. She can't understand why everyone is ignoring her when all she wants is a little sympathy. She has been in an accident, after all. Next day at work, she meets Jan and Jim, two spirits who have been sent to break the bad news. But Lizzie is not ready to go yet. She hasn't said her goodbyes. Plus there's so much she's never done. She sees her best friend, Sinead, stuck in a job she hates, always talking and never doing. It only Sinead knew - life is no dress rehearsal.

It is the 1940s in rural Ireland. Tom Nestor is a young boy. Every week, he is sent on an errand to the nearby town of Rath. Tom sets out on this journey as if it were an adventure into the Wild West, and he a cowboy. On his way, he meets a host of weird and wonderful characters, from Ned Wall, the farmer with half a face, to dear Miss Daisy, with her pony and elegant trap - a perfect lady. But times are changing fast, and the old ways are dying out. This novella is a funny, moving and familiar story of a rural Ireland long since passed.

It is the morning of Joe's wedding. He opens his eyes to find himself on a park bench beside the sea, dressed in torn tights and a cape. And that's not his only chilly awakening. For Joe is in Holyhead, but his wedding is in Dublin. And he doesn't even remember how he got there. As Joe tries to put the pieces back together, an old man joins him on the bench. Marty is a local, no stranger to these parts. So how does he know so much about this gruff young man? And why is he so interested in talking to a stranger in a Superman suit, who clearly has no time for chit-chat?

It is 1975 in a small town near Dublin. The Bay City Rollers are topping the charts. Starsky and Hutch rule the television screen. In Northern Ireland, bombs are going off. And here, in this little town on the sea, a young boy's life is about the be changed forever. By day his father is a delivery man for the local bakery. He dreams of being a comedian by night - a famous performer, a hero, a star. But the future that is lying in wait for his family, in a story of childhood both funny and sad, turns their whole world upside down.

Maggie is forty-three years old and looking for romance. She loves her husband, Dan, but his idea of romance is a couple of drinks at the local and an early night at home. Her children think she's too old to care. And she's beginning to wonder if life has passed her by. But a chance meeting changes all that, and now Maggie faces tough decisions. Can she put the spark back into her marriage, or would she be better off calling it a day? And who is more important? Her husband? Her children? Or herself?

Billy is an average-looking sixteen year-old who lives in an ordinary Dublin estate on the northside of the city. Jesus, on the other hand, is a beautiful boy with Continental manners, from the poshest part of Barcelona. He travels from Spain to live with Billy's family for three weeks one summer. The plan is that at the end of the holiday, Billy will go back with Jesus on a return visit. However, no one should make plans.

Larry is an 87-year-old widow. She lives with her daughters Martha and Mary. Through old and frail, she remembers the time when she was golden-haired Larissa, as if it were yesterday, growing up in the Liberties of Dublin. Martha is the put-upon daughter. She runs the home like an army major, looking after her mother's every need - and feeling utterly taken for granted. Her only escape comes with her regular outings to see her friend, Father Jimmy. At least he understands her! Mary, on the other hand, goes out to work, takes interesting holidays, and is mummy's pet. Add to this that she never lifts a finger in the house, and something has to give. It soon does - one embarrassing evening when Father Jimmy comes to tea.

The McHughs' marriage is on the rocks. Daughter Ciara worries that her mother and father are going to divorce. Lillian, Ciara's Gran, is worried too. She has a nice life now, since her bullying husband died. This could all change. Meanwhile, Brenda Johnston is very happy. She has a lot to gain if the McHughs divorce. Or has she? And Mike and Kathy Stuart, the McHughs' best friends, are beginning to wonder if the friendship can survive. Then, one night, everything changes.