The Country Girls, Edna O’Brien ( hardback August 2025)
£12.99
A beautiful hardback re-issue of the first volume in Edna O'Brien's iconic book of the 60's - which caused huge controversy in Ireland at the time.
We want to live. Drink gin. Squeeze into the front of big cars and drive up outside big hotels.
We want to go places. Caithleen is a romantic: she dreams of finding a handsome man who will sweep her away and look after her. Her friend Baba thinks this makes her a right-looking eejit.
What she wants is money and glamour. Life. As much of it as she can get.
But neither love nor excitement seem possible in their small village, or their convent school. And when they finally make it to Dublin, they find that home isn't as easy to escape as they thought.
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The Living and the Dead : Tales of Loss and Rebirth from Irish Nature by Conor W. O'Brien
£17.99
Ireland is a land replete with natural wonders, but we live in an age when our native wildlife is under threat like never before. Centuries of hunting and habitat loss have already wiped out some of our most iconic species, from the once-feared grey wolf to the flightless great auk – Ireland’s very own ‘penguin’.
In The Living and the Dead, acclaimed writer Conor W. O’Brien travels the country to tell the stories of our amazing lost wildlife, from the mighty sturgeon to the minuscule mountain ringlet butterfly. He reveals the tragedies behind their demise and the lessons they impart for today’s conservationists. For across the country, passionate people are fighting to protect endangered species and reintroduce those once lost. The return of creatures long gone, like the common crane and great spotted woodpecker, are celebrated in these pages. Such comebacks offer a vision of a return to a wilder Ireland, one in which humans and nature thrive in a land where eagles fly again.
A Long Winter, Colm Toibin ( hardback Aug 2025)
£12.99
An unforgettable story about loss and new love from the bestselling author of Brooklyn and Long Island. 'The most striking example of Tóibín's emotional control . .
[An] eloquent expression of the bond between a mother and a son' – Guardian.
One snowy morning, after arguing with her husband, Miquel’s mother walks out from their home high up in the Pyrenees and does not return. With his younger brother stationed far away on military service and his father cast out by the people of the town, Miquel and his father are left to fend for themselves.
Together they will be forced to battle the elements, and their resentment of each other, through the long winter. Miquel’s desperate searching for his mother is only interrupted when Manolo, an orphaned servant boy from the next village, arrives to help out in the house. As Miquel is forced to confront the reality of his mother's absence, Manolo, with his silences and longing gaze, offers the promise of new love, and another kind of life.
'A Long Winter evokes loss, loneliness, guilt and survival in a few masterly strokes' – Independent
Bogboy, Patrick Kealey ( paperback July 2025)
£10.99
This is a moving, entertaining and character filled story, Patrick has spent a career in theatre and his prose reflects that visual intensity - highly recommended.
Alfie O'Brien, soon to rename himself Bogboy, is born an orphan into a house of dead things, presided over by his imperious, ailing aunt. This is a place where the past won't let the present go, where ghosts confer with the living, and where discovering who you are means coming face to face with some uncomfortable truths. It is a house cursed by shadows, secrets and dynasty.While the wind blows in from the Atlantic across these Irish peatlands, old enmities bite down, and when Bogboy is left for dead, he must learn how to trust love, discover where he belongs, and reconcile himself with his destiny.
The ancestors are gathering and Bogboy is about to become a man.An audacious, rousing story of hope and beauty rising out of the dying embers of a corrupt and redundant regime, Bogboy is a story for our times, reminding us that attention to the natural world offers solace and healing, and that love - wherever we may find it - is always stronger than hatred.
Night Swimming : How to swim through the darkness by Al Mennie ( paperback August 2025)
£14.99
Al grew up in Castlerock in Northern Ireland after moving there as a child. He became a fearless surfer and swimmer, with an emotional connection to the sea which he shares here in this hugely informative and original book.
Discover the unmatched beauty of wild swimming by night. Combining motivational writing with evocative storytelling, international big wave surfer and night swimmer Al Mennie gives readers the tools to discover their own methods of navigating through darkness to find clarity and focus. Weaving together swim stories with the practicalities of how and when he swims at night, along with the benefits that connecting with nature has on the mind, this book is perfect for wild swimmers who want to experience their favourite waterhole after sundown. Discover what drew Al into the waters of the North Atlantic, how he found community after initially seeking isolation, his pre-swim rituals, and everything he has learnt along the way, including how he "found his moon" – something that shines brightly in his life.
The book will feature:Tides, currents, weather and seasonsHow the senses adaptNavigating by landscape, moon and starsPreparation, what to wear, pre-swim rituals Route planning, back-up plans and support teamsThe importance of community With illustrations of landscapes, moon phases, constellations and tidal patterns, and templates for planning routes and logging swims, this book will help readers find a new perspective on life, opening their mind to a deeper connection with themselves and with their local environment.
