Review. The Danger and the Glory. Irish Authors on the Art of Writing
How do writer’s write? Where does their inspiration come from, and what is their process of putting their words on the printed page? All this holds endless fascination for passionate readers, and for those who, eager…
Anna Hope
There’s a scene in Anna Hope’s new novel, where Lissa, an actress auditioning for a TV advertisement, is told to flirt with a plate of chocolate cookies in front of a roomful of men. It’s humiliating…
Debut Roundup November/December 2019
Call Him Mine by Tim MacGabhann. Weidenfeld & Nicholson. ISBN 978 1 4746 1045 2` There’s been a dearth of interesting debuts by Irish males of late, so I was pleased when this literary thriller by…
Review. Night Swimming by Doreen Finn.
It’s Dublin, 1976, the summer of the heatwave, and at nine years old, Megan is happy. She hangs out with her next-door neighbour, Daniel, whilst her talented mother, Gemma, spends her days painting in the attic….
Alex Barclay
Alex Barclay hasn’t had a holiday in six years. And for the past two years she has been on a writing lockdown. Never a stranger to hard work, she has taken on a particularly large burden…
Caroline Grace Cassidy and Lisa C Carey
When a friend of Lisa Carey’s called off his wedding at the last minute it got her thinking. His bride to be was in her late thirties and had given her fiancée the best years of…
Debut Roundup. September 2019. For Books Ireland
Saltwater by Jessica Andrews. Sceptre. When a debut novel is described as ground-breaking – and words like reinvention are used, my heart sinks. Because all too often this is just another way of saying that the…
Damian Barr
Last year, Damian Barr lived in terror, worried that he would die. He wasn’t sick; he didn’t face danger; but he couldn’t bear the thought that his debut novel might not see the light of day….
Homan Potterton
In 2002, when the former Director of the National Gallery, Homan Potterton, brought out his childhood memoir, he didn’t expect that many people would read it. So, when it received positive reviews, and sold extremely well,…
Samuel Thompson
There’s been a wealth of fiction coming from Northern Ireland of late, and much of it focuses on the troubles. We’ve heard the story of terrorists; of victims; and of people whose normal lives have been…
Joseph O’Connor
Arriving to interview Joseph O’Connor, I got locked into an apartment carpark next door to the hotel; when I tell Joe this, he launches into a narrative, about what else might go wrong for me today….
Debut Roundup for Books Ireland, May and June
Last ones left alive. Sarah Davis-Goff. Tinder. Orpen is walking along the road pushing a wheelbarrow, her black dog, danger, by her side. Her blackened toenail falls off – her fingers blister, but the pain is…