Read Ireland Book Review
Issue 157
Irish Fiction
Emerald Germs of Ireland by Patrick McCabe (Hardback; 14.99 IEP / 17.50 USD / 13.50 UK) [Add To Basket]
In this book the reader meets Patrick McNab, forty-five years old, would-be 'Cleaner' or 'Regulator', maybe a serial killer - often to be found endlessly puffing smokes and propping up the counter of Sullivan's Select Bar, or sitting on his mother's knee both singing away together like some ridiculous two-headed human jukebox. Pat now spends many of his waking hours sitting by the window of his old dark house, watching videos and nibbling distractedly on pieces of toast, reflects on those long-gone days with his Mammy, fending off the persistent interferences of his small-town neighbors, the puritanical Mrs. Tubridy; that irascible seller of turf the Turf Man; Sergeant 'Kojak' Foley; and other unwanted snoops who will soon come to regret their inquisitive, nose-poking ways.
Eager to Please by Julie Parsons (Paperback; 11.99 IEP / 14.50 USD / 10.00 UK) [Add To Basket]
For twelve long years Rachel Beckett has been in prison for the murder of her husband, Martin. A murder she swears she did not commit. Twelve years with the haunting memory of her husband's brutal murder. Twelve long years without her beloved daughter, Amy. And twelve years later Amy, now seventeen, does not ever want to see her mother again. But now Rachel is free. And she is ready to take revenge on the man she insists fired the fatal shots, her former lover, the man who framed her, who sent her daughter away.
Water, Carry Me by Thomas Moran (Paperback; 14.00 IEP / 18.50 USD / 11.50 UK) [Add To Basket]
Una Moss grew up in Cobh, Ireland, with her grandda. Orphaned at an early age, she cannon remember the car crash that killed her parents - she can barely even remember their faces. But Una was happy in Cobh; she had a laugh with her best girls, ate the fish her grandda caught, took care of him when he came home drunk. Her friends and family gave her all the support she could ever want, and shielded her from the whispers which suggested her parents' death had been less than accidental. And now she has gone to university in Cork. Her days and nights are filled with intense poetry readings, political debates, last-minute study. And she meets her first boyfriend, Aidan Ferrel, a young man from the North. Set against the backdrop of a beautiful but divided Ireland, this novel is a heartbreaking story by one of literature's most acclaimed fiction writers.
Across the River by Alice Taylor (Paperback; 9.99 IEP / 13.00 USD / 8.50 UK) [Add To Basket]
This novel is a story of land, conflict and family traditions, and is a sequel to her best-selling 'The Woman of the House.' The story is set on the Phelan and Conway farms which stand in hostile confrontation across the river. The long dispute between the two families simmers, then explodes. Meanwhile, Martha Phelan is locked in stubborn conflict with her son, Peter. He wants to make changes in the way the farm is run, but she secretly plans quite different changes; the tension between then builds but is suddenly overtaken by the force of a greater problem.
Dancing Days by Anne Marie Forrest (Paperback; 6.99 IEP / 9.50 USD / 5.50 UK) [Add To Basket]
Ana: a little girl intently dressing up in her old friend Celia's jewels … a young woman walking alone to church in her bridal gown … a loving wife who suffers tragic loss but survives to travel to Africa and fall in love … an aging women who still has an eye for form and likes to take a risk, ride pillion on a motor-bike, sing in a woodland glade with a handsome gardener … Ana has always depended on life's unexpectedness. And when she retires, are her dancing days over? Hardly …
Bunny Girl by Joan Conway (Paperback; 6.99 IEP / 9.50 USD / 5.50 UK) [Add To Basket]
Ciara Bowe's life is not in the best condition: no job, no boyfriend, back living with her mother in suburban Dublin. Enter John, Ciara's ex-and-never-slept-with-him-boyfriend, who's launching his new telecommunications company. He's very interested in helping Ciara out of her predicament and into his bed. Laced with audacious with and pithy humour, this book is romantic, funny and full of joy.
Onion Girl by Tina Reilly (Paperback; 6.99 IEP / 9.50 USD / 5.50 UK) [Add To Basket]
Have you ever wondered what happened to that person you fancied when you were seventeen? Well, Meg and Jack are about to find out … Meg: so quiet she'd make a funeral seem like a rave; and Jack: so out there he's almost living in the future. They were once good friends - some might even say very good friends. Then Jack told Meg he'd keep in touch and never did. Now, ten years on, they're virtual strangers. Only Jack wants to change that …
Images by Rose Doyle (Paperback; 6.99 IEP / 9.50 USD / 5.50 UK) [Add To Basket]
Bea Hennessy is a women of achievement - stunning, bright, expensive and in control - most of the time. She has survived a cruel childhood, a disastrous marriage, single parenthood and cut-throat betrayal in the art world. Now, Bea is about to have further proof that greed, ambition and lust are lived, and more than well, in contemporary Ireland. Because beautiful people do not always do beautiful things - even when they are lovers or family members.
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