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Best of
Ireland

1950

Mary O'Grady

ireland

virago

virago-modern-classics

fiction

Mary Josephine Lavin - 1950

First published in 1950, this sensitive novel is a compelling record of one woman's love and the strength of her silent faith.

Mary O'Grady, an Irish peasant woman, discovers that motherhood brings her as many sorrows as joys.

Cocktail Bar

ireland

fiction

short-stories

west-classiques-old-nonfiction

Norah Hoult - 1950

Originally published in 1950, Cocktail Bar is a brilliantly incisive collection of short stories, far ahead of its time, which illuminates the small, unspoken intricacies of human relationships.From an immigrant household in London preparing to organise a ‘proper Irish wedding’ to a domineering society matron running her upper-class neighbourhood with an iron fist; from a fashionable young woman wants to be charitable towards her old and poor aunt to an Irish girl must decide between a promising future in America and marriage to her long-time beau.Throughout these tales, Hoult reveals the contemporary realities of class and disability, office politics and women’s lives, with a sharp gaze and a gentle touch.

Beautifully observed and remarkably crafted, exact and unflinching, Cocktail Bar is a modern Irish classic.

Best ofIreland

1950

Mary O'Grady

Cocktail Bar

Best of
Ireland