Best of
Irish-Literature

2017

Harvesting


Lisa Harding - 2017
    When they are thrown together in a Dublin brothel in a horrific twist of fate, a peculiar and important bond is formed . . .This is a novel about a flourishing but hidden world, thinly concealed beneath a veneer of normality. It’s about the failings of polite society, the cruelty that can exist in apparently homely surroundings, the bluster of youth and the often appalling weakness of adults.Harvesting is heartbreaking and funny, gritty, raw and breathtakingly beautiful, where redemption is found in friendship and unexpected acts of kindness.Harvesting was inspired by Harding’s involvement with a campaign against sex trafficking run by the Children’s Rights Alliance. Although it is a fictionalised account, the text has been read and approved of by representatives for NGOs in both Moldova and Dublin.

Wounds: A Memoir of War and Love


Fergal Keane - 2017
    It is a family story of war and love, and how the ghosts of the past return to shape the present.Wounds is a powerful memoir about Irish people who found themselves caught up in the revolution that followed the 1916 Rising, and in the pitiless violence of civil war in north Kerry after the British left in 1922.It is the story of Keane’s grandmother Hannah Purtill, her brother Mick and his friend Con Brosnan, and how they and their neighbours took up guns to fight the British Empire and create an independent Ireland. And it is the story of another Irishman, Tobias O’Sullivan, who fought against them as a policeman because he believed it was his duty to uphold the law of his country.Many thousands of people took part in the War of Independence and the Civil War that followed. Whatever side they chose, all were changed in some way by the costs of violence. Keane uses the experiences of his ancestral homeland in north Kerry to examine why people will kill for a cause and how the act of killing reverberates through the generations.

Postcard Stories


Jan Carson - 2017
    Each of these tiny stories was inspired by an event, an overheard conversation, a piece of art or just a fleeting glance of something worth thinking about further.Collected in one volume, Carson's postcards present a panoramic view of contemporary Belfast -- its coffee shops, streets and museums and airports -- and offer it to the wider world. Even as they seem to spring from a writer's solitary perspective, taken together, these observations and their distribution speak of human connectedness. Like a pleasant surprise in the mail, this collection reminds us how many friendships are born and strengthened in a story shared.Illustrated by Benjamin Phillips.

Brotherly Love


Lorna Peel - 2017
    Faction fighting has left the parish of Doon divided between the followers of the Bradys and the Donnellans. Caitriona Brady is the widow of John, the Brady champion, killed two years ago. Matched with John aged eighteen, Caitriona didn’t love him and can’t mourn him. Now John’s mother is dead, too, and Caitriona is free to marry again.Michael Warner is handsome, loves her, and he hasn’t allied himself with either faction. But what secret is he keeping from her? Is he too good to be true?

Rain Falls on Everyone


Clár Ni Chonghaile - 2017
    Still haunted by a traumatic memory in which his father committed a murderous act of violence, he struggles to find his place in the foreign city.Plagued by his past, Theo is gradually drawn deeper into the world of Dublin’s feared criminal gangs, plagued by racism, fear and drugs. But a chance encounter in a restaurant with Deirdre offers him a lifeline.Joined together through survival instincts Theo and Deirdre’s tender friendship is however soon threatened by tragedy. Can they confront their addictions to carve a future out of the catastrophe that engulfs both their lives?Clar expertly aligns countries and cultures in this spellbinding and tough novel. Drawing on authentic inspiration the tumultuous settings come alive as you are drawn into the multi-faceted lives of Theo and Deirdre.What Reviewers and Readers Say:'Clar's book is a gripping thriller which manages to bring two very different worlds into synergy. She succeeds in creating a truly three dimensional African protagonist - a rare thing in popular fiction - helping us to feel both compassion and frustration at Theo's choices.' Celeste Hicks'A fast-paced, powerful and emotional novel deftly crafted and shot through with insight, empathy and poetic beauty. As worlds collide, a gripping story of belonging, identity, memory, culpability and forgiveness unfolds, creating a poignant and profound novel for our times'. Deborah Andrews, author of 'Walking the Lights''Powerful, thought-provoking, and at times horrifying; yet also a compelling story of friendship against all the odds.' Nick Brownlee'Sex, drugs and....Irish poetry meets deep Africa in the most unusual of settings. This visceral novel's imagery will stay with you for a while.' Rosie Garthwaite'With the same assured touch that we saw in her debut novel, Clár Ní Chonghaile here weaves a vivid, moving but never sentimental tale, with deft characterisation, luminous detail and generous flashes of humour. From the very first page I knew I was in good hands.' Léan Cullinan, author of 'The Living''It is undoubtedly a clever novel, a novel that explains much while keeping forward momentum.' Joules Barham, Northern Reader'Rain falling on everyone suggests that death and misfortune are indiscriminate but it is how we deal with the vagaries of nature and life that gives the individual hope and control over their future.' Rich Jones, Rich Reviews'Rain Falls On Everyone was a unique and deeply touching novel that I thoroughly enjoyed.' Pages and Print'This is such an impressive book... It was a pleasure to read and can highly recommend it!' Butterfly in the Sky

Orange Horses


Maeve Kelly - 2017
    These 20 stories are beautiful, sad and funny.

A Treasury of Irish Literature (Barnes & Noble Omnibus Leatherbound Classics)


Various - 2017