Irish Writing
Uncanny Ireland : Otherworldly Tales of the Strange and Sublime ( hardback 2024 )
£16.99
Hardback, 288 pages
British Library Publishing
Classifications: Classic horror & ghost stories
Weight:708g, Dimensions:22 x 16 cm
'Suddenly the upper rim of the clear setting sun disappeared behind the hill of Knockdoula, and it was twilight. Each child felt the transition like a shock ... and the rounded summit of Lisnavoura, now closely overhanging them, struck them with a new fear.'Ireland's rich literary history has within it a vein of potent fantastic fiction, drawing upon a deep folkloric tradition brimming with tales of the aos si (the people of the fairy mounds), the Otherworld and timeless deities.
Writers in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries added a new chapter to this tradition, reworking elements of folklore into modern tales of the weird and macabre. Featuring stories by classic authors such as Sheridan Le Fanu and Charlotte Riddell alongside pieces by Lady Gregory, Katharine Tynan, Elizabeth Bowen and many more.
Women Behind the Door, Roddy Doyle (paperback July 2025)
£9.99
Booker-Prize winner Roddy Doyle’s spectacular return to his iconic heroine, Paula Spencer‘
At sixty-six, Paula Spencer – mother, grandmother, widow, addict, survivor – is finally living her life. A job at the dry cleaners she enjoys, a man – Joe – with whom she shares what she wants, friends who see her for who she is, and four grown children, now with families and petty dramas the likes of which Paula could only have hoped for. Despite its ghosts, Paula has started to push her past aside.
That is until Paula’s eldest, Nicola, turns up on her doorstep. Independent, affluent, a loving wife and mother, “a success” – Nicola is suddenly determined to leave it all behind. Over the next few days, as Nicola gradually confides in Paula the secret that unleashed this moment of crisis, mother and daughter find themselves untangling anecdotes, jokes, memory and revelation to confront the bruised but beautiful symmetry of what each means to the other.
Paperback 9781529924138 ( cover brown) out in early July.
Heart Be At Peace, Donal Ryan ( paperback June 2025)
£9.99
Some things can send a heart spinning; others will crack it in two... In a small town in rural Ireland, the local people have weathered the storms of economic collapse and are looking towards the future. The jobs are back, the dramas of the past seemingly lulled, and although the town bears the marks of its history, new stories are unfolding.
But a fresh menace is creeping around the lakeshore and the lanes of the town, and the peace of the community is about to be shattered in an unimaginable way. Young people are being drawn towards the promise of fast money whilst the generation above them tries to push back the tide of an enemy no one can touch…Told in twenty-one voices, Heart, be at Peace is a heartfelt, lyrical novel that can be read independently, or as a companion to Donal Ryan’s multi-award-winning novel, The Spinning Heart, voted ‘The Irish Book of the Decade’. *****
Note image of hardback is featured... paperback cover is similiar but not identical!
Intermezzo - Sally Rooney ( PAPERBACK 22 MAY 2025)
£9.99
From the author of the multimillion-copy bestseller Normal People, an exquisitely moving story about grief, love and family. Aside from the fact that they are brothers, Peter and Ivan Koubek seem to have little in common. Peter is a Dublin lawyer in his thirties - successful, competent and apparently unassailable.
But in the wake of their father's death, he's medicating himself to sleep and struggling to manage his relationships with two very different women - his enduring first love Sylvia, and Naomi, a college student for whom life is one long joke. Ivan is a twenty-two-year-old competitive chess player. He has always seen himself as socially awkward, a loner, the antithesis of his glib elder brother.
Now, in the early weeks of his bereavement, Ivan meets Margaret, an older woman emerging from her own turbulent past, and their lives become rapidly and intensely intertwined. For two grieving brothers and the people they love, this is a new interlude - a period of desire, despair and possibility - a chance to find out how much one life might hold inside itself without breaking.
The Roads That Lead Us Home, Lynne Kennedy ( paperback July 2024)
£10.99
Amsterdam 1648, Captain Andrew Ross, a young soldier of the Scots Brigade serving in the Dutch Republic falls in love with the beautiful Catharina Meyer, daughter of a rich merchant family of Amsterdam. Newly married Captain Andrew begins to plan a life for himself and his bride in his beloved Scotland but soon the newly weds find themselves caught up in a web of deception and lies which changes the course of their young lives forever.
New England 2016 and Janey McKay leaves New York and makes her way back to her childhood home after the collapse of her marriage. She fills her first long, lonely New England winter by joining the local Historical Society, embarking on a journey of ancestral discovery which takes her back along the ancient roads of Scotland, Ireland and The Netherlands in search of her ancestors. What she discovers challenges everything she thought she knew about her family's past.
Mouthing, Orla Mackey ( new paperback April 2025 )
£9.99
Sharp-eyed and sharp-tongued, a multigenerational portrait of small-town life in Ireland from a refreshing new talent in literary fiction'A bittersweet love letter to small-town Irish life over several generations, in the vein of Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge' Irish Times‘Full of disgrace, inherited trauma and family secrets. It will make you laugh - because if you didn't, you'd surely cry’ Aingeala Flannery‘A caustically witty novel for anyone who ever wondered what the neighbours are really up to behind closed doors’ Jan CarsonWelcome to Ballyrowan. This sleepy corner of rural Ireland may seem tranquil, but scratch the surface and you'll find a hotbed of gossip and intrigue - endless material for mouthing - and a town full of people only too happy to oblige in spreading the bad news.
Narrated by several generations of villagers, Mouthing traces the fortunes of one small community from the mid-20th century to the early 21st, in a series of highly confessional and darkly hilarious monologues. The good people of Ballyrowan delight in twisting the knife, in tormenting one another, in perfecting the art of schadenfreude. And, it becomes clear, none of them are entirely reliable witnesses.
As each character offers their version of 'the truth', upending our assumptions at every turn, we see how feuds are passed down through the generations, how families are estranged or reunited and fortunes made or lost, how strict social expectations loosen over decades (and how some things remain stubbornly unchanged). And how secret hopes and private sorrows, triumph and humiliation, pleasure and grief are all absorbed into the merciless chorus of mouthing. Mouthing is an acerbic, unsentimental love letter to rural Irish life, where everyone knows everyone else's business and everyone has an opinion on it - where 'community' is both a lifeboat and a life sentence.
Body of Truth, Marie Cassidy ( paperback June 2024)
£9.99
When the body of true crime podcaster Rachel Reece is found in Dublin's Phoenix Park, the pressure is on police for a quick solve. The victim is well-known host of the Abandoned podcast, which explores unsolved murders of Irish women, often asking difficult questions of historic investigations.
Dr Terry O'Brien, recently arrived from Scotland, is the pathologist on the case. It quickly becomes clear that a senior detective is intent on pointing the finger at a particular suspect, but Terry is unconvinced and quietlybegins her own research. Soon she is immersed in cold-case files.
As she retraces Rachel's footsteps, Terry finds herself increasingly at odds with her superiors, wondering who she can and can't trust. She knows the pathology never lies. But when her forensic skills reveal something that might hold the key to solving Rachel's murder, she doesn't know how close she is to the knife-edge of danger.
A page-turning forensic thriller from Ireland's former state pathologist that uncovers the secrets of the mortuary.
The Heart in Winter, Kevin Barry ( paperback April 2025)
£9.99
What if we ride out tonight?What if we ride out and never once look back?October, 1891. Butte, Montana. A hard winter approaches across the Rocky Mountains.
The city is rich on copper mines and rampant with vice and debauchery among a hard-living crowd of immigrant Irish workers. Here we find Tom Rourke, a young poet and balladmaker, but also a doper, a drinker and a fearsome degenerate. Just as he feels his life is heading nowhere fast, Polly Gillespie arrives in town as the new bride of the devout mine captain Long Anthony Harrington.
A thunderbolt love affair takes spark between Tom and Polly and they strike out west on a stolen horse, moving through the badlands of Montana and Idaho. Briefly an idyll of wild romance perfects itself. But a posse of deranged Cornish gunsmen are soon in hot pursuit of the lovers, and closing in fast .
AN IRISH TIMES FICTION TO LOOK OUT FOR IN 2024
Hey Zoey, Sarah Crossan ( PAPERBACK July 2025)
£9.99
A provocative, tender and darkly funny novel that explores the painful truths of modern-day connection, and all the complicated and unexpected forms that love can take in a lifetime.
Imagine discovering an animatronic sex doll hidden in the garage. What would you do?Dolores initially does nothing. She assumes the doll belongs to her husband, David, and their relationship is already strained.
They’re not young, they’re not old; they have no children, they keep up with the markers of being middle class and Dolores is well versed in keeping men’s secrets. But then, Dolores and Zoey start to talk ...What surfaces runs deeper than Dolores could have ever expected, with consequences for all of the relationships in her life, especially her relationship to herself. Hey, Zoey is a propulsive story of love, family, and trauma in our tech-buffered age of alienation, as strange as it is familiar.
'Brilliant, provocative, and darkly funny' Sarah Dunn'Unique, refreshing and revelatory ... Reads the zeitgeist perfectly' Helen Cullen'One of our most inventive writers ... Blends comedy, drama and heartbreak in a novel that is as surprising as it is memorable' John Boyne
Ravelling, Estelle Birdy ( paperback May 2024)
£16.00
Estelle Birdy’s explosively original debut Ravelling channels the energies and agonies of young men let loose in the city, their city, navigating the tumultuous trajectory of youth and young manhood, where they balance their hopes with the harsh realities of their present. Hurtling between friendships, feuds, drug-deals, family and brushes with the law, this is modern Dublin as never before portrayed. Ravelling follows Deano, a weed-smoking hurling star, living with his aunt in an about-to-be-demolished flat; Hamza, a Pakistani Muslim atheist and precocious academic, who sells his ADHD drugs to the kids in a private school; Oisín, empathetic and iron-willed, who has begun to see his dead brother at the end of his bed; Congolese nature lover, Benit, who just wants to relax and hurl with the lads; Karl, a maybe-gay fashionista, dreaming of something better while immersing himself in his art.
Bound by friendship, place and the memories of those who’ve died too soon, these young men grapple with race, class, sex, parties, poverty, violence and Garda harassment, all while wondering what it means to be a man in twenty-first century Ireland. ‘Ravelling masterfully evokes the fragility and beauty of human relationships. It’s funny, bold and bursting with love.
There’s no moral here, just an ode to community, a burning sense of youth and a plea for a society pushed to the margins.’ KARL GEARY
Tales from Old Ireland, Malachy Doyle ( paperback )
£12.99
This collection of seven spellbinding Irish folk tales deserves to be read aloud at every hearth. Larger-than-life characters, dramatic plot twists and a healthy dose of magical enchantment will keep readers absorbed for many happy hours. Includes glossary and pronunciation key for Irish terms.
Exile, Aimee Walsh - paperback March 2025
£9.99
Leaving home was hard. Returning is impossible. Fiadh's life is turned completely upside down on a night out in Belfast.
Pretty soon everyone has heard about what happened; it is impossible to keep the rumours from spreading, the gossip from spiralling out of control. And just as she was beginning to finally figure everything out: she was feeling positive about her move to Liverpool, she was starting to get on top of her uni work and had made some new friends. Now her life is in freefall and Fiadh is helpless to do anything about it.
She starts missing assignment deadlines, stops turning up to class and doesn't respond to any of her friends' messages. Her nights revolve around random hook ups, fuelled by drink and drugs. Without the tightknit group of friends she left behind at home or the support of the new friends she has made in Liverpool, Fiadh's life quickly descends into chaos, a chaos that nearly costs her everything.
Aimée holds a PhD in Irish Literature and Cultural History. Exile is her debut novel.
The Amendments, Niamh Mulvey, paperback March 2025
£9.99
Delving into the lives of three generations of women, The Amendments by Niamh Mulvey is an extraordinary novel about love and freedom, belonging and rebellion – and about how our past is a vital presence which sits alongside us. Nell and her partner Adrienne are about to have a baby.
For Adrienne, it’s the start of a new life. For Nell, it’s the reason the two of them are sitting in a therapist’s office. Because she can’t go into this without dealing with the truth: that she has been a mother before, and now she can hardly bring herself to speak to her own mother, let alone return home to Ireland.
Nell is running out of places to hide from her past. But to Ireland and the past is where she must go, and that is where The Amendments takes us: to the heat of Nell’s teenage years in the early 2000s, as Ireland was unpicking itself from its faith and embracing the hedonism of the Celtic Tiger. To 1983, when Nell’s mother Dolores was grappling with the tensions of the women’s rights movement.
And then to the farms and suburbs and towns that made and unmade the lives at the centre of this story, bound together by the terrible secret that Nell still cannot face.
Spirit Level, Richy Craven ( paperback May 2024)
£9.99
Spirit Level is an outrageously bingeable read. It is surprising, warm, inventive and a lot of fun' - Louise Nealon'
'Craven pulled me in with his brilliant humour, only to make me feel genuine emotion. I'll never forgive him for this' - Seán Burke
Danny Hook is a directionless twenty-something year old fresh out of therapy. Dealing with his disappointed family and dead-end career, he's sure things couldn't get much worse, until a drink-driving accident leaves his best friend Nudge dead. Danny also discovers he can see ghosts - but only when he's drunk. Saddled with a best friend who can't leave his side, they must figure out what's going on and why Nudge can't cross over. Can Danny negotiate family life, therapy and a ghost that refuses to fade into the background before time runs out?'Spirit Level is a charming, zippy and hilarious read.
Harpy, Caroline Magennis ( paperback May 2025) )
£10.99
Harpy is a tonic; a tongue-in-cheek manual for dealing with Spanish Inquisition-style questioning about saying pass to procreation and building an enriching life beyond the nuclear family' VOGUE'
Harpy made me nod in recognition, and shake my head with sorrow, and then it made me laugh out loud' EMILIE PINE, author of NOTES TO SELF and RUTH & PEN
Each generation has more childfree women than the one before. For many, it is an active decision made for a wide range of reasons. Despite this growing trend, we continue to live in a society where women are often judged for deciding to remain childfree - for not conforming to narrow expectations.
For being a Harpy. In this timely and thoughtful book, Caroline Magennis looks beyond the often-divisive conversation around women who choose to be childfree and offers an alternative message of hope and celebration. With humour and intelligence, she explores why motherhood isn't right for everybody and how any woman - whether a parent or childfree - can live a full life, while also reminding the reader that your freedoms and the right to autonomy should never be taken for granted.
Ghost Mountain, Rónán Hession ( paperback May 2025)
£18.00
Ghost Mountain, is a simple fable-like novel about a mountain that appears suddenly, and the way in which its manifestation ripples through the lives of characters in the surrounding community. It looks at the uncertain fragile sense of self we hold inside ourselves, and our human compulsion to project it into the uncertain world around us, whether we're ready or not. It is also about the presence of absence, and how it shadows us in our lives.
Mountains are at once unmistakably present yet never truly fathomable.
Ronan's writing is sublimely simple, yet moving - a real favourite of mine. Linda
Greener, Grainne Murphy ( paperback May 2024)
£9.99
As teenagers, Helen, Annie and Laura were inseparable, bonding over family, boys, and their dreams for the future. But when school ended, so did their friendship.
Twenty-five years later, a snowstorm forces the three women to spend time together, leaving them wondering if they can reconcile the gap between who they are and who they used to be.
GREENER is an exploration of the changing dynamics of adult friendships and asks whether old friends can ever let us become new people.
'Heartbreaking, philosophical and funny' Niamh Prior
'Set in the latter days of the pandemic, Greener is a quiet yet powerful novel which examines the nature of friendship and the compromises that people make in their lives' Madeleine D'Arcy
'Murphy is an accomplished writer with the gift of transferring everyday life onto the page assuredly' Anne Griffin
‘Gráinne Murphy's keen-eyed exploration of the complexities of adult friendship brims with warmth and humour' Danielle McLaughlin
Reeling in the Queers : Tales of Ireland’s LGBTQ Past by Paraic Kerrigan ( 6 June 2024)
£14.99
Amidst the moments of seismic change in LGBTQ history in Ireland lie the stories of ordinary people, who did extraordinary things to change queer Ireland and Irish culture.
Marking 50 years of the founding of an LGBTQ rights movement in Ireland, REELING IN THE QUEERS explores the lesser-known stories of the fight for LGBTQ rights . . . beyond decriminalization and Marriage Equality. Uncovering fourteen key moments that reflect the changing social and cultural landscape of Ireland, this book tells the story of the collective gains, losses, devastation and community rising from the ashes of defeat.
These stories, from across the island of Ireland – and beyond! – will celebrate a strong community and its allies, providing an exchange across generations. It is a hugely enjoyable and insightful read for those who lived through this history and for those who enjoy its benefits today. Bringing even more to life the great big gay tapestry in Ireland, to enable young queer Irish people to access their own important history, the light, the dark and the brilliance of all of it.
The Bee Sting - Paul Murray ( paperback May 2024)
£9.99
The Barnes family are in trouble. Until recently they ran the biggest business in town, now they’re teetering on the brink of bankruptcy – and that’s just the start of their problems. Dickie and Imelda’s marriage is hanging by a thread; straight-A student Cass is careening off the rails; PJ is hopelessly in debt to the school bully. Meanwhile the ghosts of old mistakes are rising out of the past to meet them, but everyone’s too wrapped up in the present to see the danger looming .
WINNER OF THE NERO BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION 2023 - WINNER OF AN POST IRISH BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023 - SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2023 - SHORTLISTED FOR THE WRITERS’ PRIZE FOR FICTION 2024
As if all these accolades weren't enough, can I just add I really liked it too!
The Coast Road - Alan Murrin (paperback from May 2025)
£16.99
It’s 1994 in County Donegal, Ireland, and everyone is talking about Colette Crowley – the writer, the bohemian, the woman who left her husband and sons to pursue a relationship with a married man in Dublin.
But now Colette is back, and nobody knows why. Returning to the community to try and reclaim her old life, Colette quickly learns that they are unwilling to give it back to her. The man to whom she is still married is denying her access to her children, and while the legalisation of divorce might be just around the corner, Colette finds herself caught between her old life and the freedom for which she risked everything.
Desperate to see her children, she enlists the help of Izzy, a housewife and mother of two, and the women forge a friendship that will send them on a spiralling journey – one toward a path of self-discovery, and the other toward tragedy. Brilliantly observed from a sharp new literary talent, The Coast Road is a novel about a closed community and the consequences of daring to move against the tide.
‘A beautiful, accomplished debut’ LOUISE KENNEDY
The City of God, Michael Russell ( paperback April 2024)
£9.99
Italy, 1943. Irish detective Stefan Gillespie leaves the chaos of Nazi-occupied Rome for neutral Switzerland on a mission his government knows nothing about. Waiting for a late-night connection in Zurich he sees a train that shouldn't be there.
The train's SS guards, who shouldn't be there either, beat him to within an inch of his life. But Stefan's perilous journey begins in Rome with the barbaric murder of an idealistic young Irish priest. The Eternal City is a place of vengeance, duplicity and betrayal that has even infected the City of God itself, the Vatican.
In a war that is everywhere, not even neutrals, can escape the surrounding darkness. Praise for Michael Russell'In The City of God, Michael Russell again captures wartime Europe's uncertainties through his richly drawn Garda inspector Stefan Gillespie' Irish Times'Complex but compelling . .
. utterly vivid and convincing' Independent on Sunday'A superb, atmospheric thriller' Irish Independent'A thriller to keep you guessing and gasping' Daily Mail'Atmospheric' Sunday Times
The Wren, The Wren, Anne Enright ( paperback April 2024)
£9.99
Carmel had been alone all her life. The baby knew this. They looked at each other, and all of time was there.
The baby knew how vast her mother's loneliness had been. ‘A magnificent novel’ SALLY ROONEYNell is a young woman with adventure on her mind. As she sets out into the world, she finds her family history hard to escape.
For her mother, Carmel, Nell’s leaving home opens a space in her heart, where the turmoil of a lifetime begins to churn. Over them both falls the long shadow of Carmel’s famous father, an Irish poet of beautiful words and brutal actions. From our greatest chronicler of family life, The Wren, The Wren is a story of the love that can unite us, and the individual acts that threaten this vital bond.
SHORT-LISTED FOR THE WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2024
WINNER OF THE WRITERS’ PRIZE FOR FICTION 2024
Hagstone, Sinead Gleeson ( paperback March 2025)
£16.99
The haunting debut novel from beloved, Irish no. 1 bestselling author, Sinéad Gleeson. The sea is steady for now.The land readies itself. What can be done with the woman on the cliff? On a wild and rugged island cut off and isolated to some, artist Nell feels the island is her home. It is the source of inspiration for her art, rooted in landscape, folklore and the feminine.
The mysterious Inions, a commune of women who have travelled there from all over the world, consider it a place of refuge and safety, of solace in nature. All the islanders live alongside the strange murmurings that seem to emanate from within the depths of the island, a sound that is almost supernatural – a Summoning as the Inions call it. One day, a letter arrives at Nell’s door from the reclusive Inions who invite Nell into the commune for a commission to produce a magnificent art piece to celebrate their long history.
In its creation, Nell will discover things about the community and about herself that will challenge everything she thought she knew. Beautifully written, prescient and eerily haunting, Sinéad Gleeson’s debut novel takes in the darker side of human nature and the mysteries of faith and the natural world.
Quickly, While They Still Have Horses, by Jan Carson ( paperback Feb 2025)
£9.99
Now in paperback from Feb 2025
In sixteen sparkling stories, Jan Carson introduces us to worlds and characters that feel real enough to touch. All of life is here: the thrill of growing up, the grief when youth is over; first love, mature love, parenthood and loss - all shot through with profound compassion, warm wit, and boundless imagination.
In 'A Certain Degree of Ownership', a distracted couple on a beach fail to notice their baby crawl perilously towards the sea. In 'Troubling the Water', a rumour spreads at a public swimming pool and chaos ensues. In 'Fair Play' a dishevelled father loses his two sons in an adventure park.
Every so often, an irresistible suggestion of the other world will surprise and delight, reaffirming Carson as a thrillingly original and audacious talent, and making Quickly, While They Still Have Horses the perfect introduction for readers new to her work. If you enjoyed Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected, you will like this!
The Golden Hare, Paddy Donnelly (paperback from Feb 2025)
£13.99
Meara and Grandad set out on a journey to find the Golden Hare, a mythical, shape-shifting creature that can jump to the moon in two-and-a-half leaps! Along the way, they discover all sorts of treasures in the trees, under the ground and in the waves. And who knows where that clever Golden Hare might be hiding ...
A gorgeous story and illustration from Northern Irish illustrator and author Paddy Donnelly, who is always generous with his time and calls in to sign his books when he's in Belfast :)
paperback 9781788495950 available from Feb 2025
Puffling and the Egg, Gerry Daly ( paperback picture book March 2024)
£8.99
When Puffling finds a lost egg on Skellig Michael, she sets off on a brand new adventure to return the egg to its nest!She travels all over the island searching the owner of this stray egg, meeting lots of new friends along the way ... but who lost this mystery egg? And what kind of baby animal is going to hatch from it?
Soldier Sailor, Claire Kilroy ( paperback March 2024)
£9.99
In one of the most acclaimed novels of the year, her first in over a decade, Claire Kilroy takes us deep into the mind of her unforgettable heroine. Exploring the clash of fierce love for a new life with a seismic change in identity, she vividly realises the tumultuous emotions of a new mother. As her marriage strains and she struggles with questions of love, autonomy creativity and the passing of time, an old friend makes a welcome return - but can he really offer a lifeline to the woman she used to be?Readers adore Soldier Sailor:***** 'About as perfect a piece of writing as you'll find.'***** 'Unbearably tense and frequently hilarious.'***** 'An entirely different voltage to anything I've read ...she somehow manages to verbalise *exactly* the feelings and thoughts I, certainly, had at points when I was a young mother'***** 'This story touched me on such a visceral level.
Eyewitness to War and Peace, Eamonn Mallie ( paperback Feb 2024)
£17.99
In this gripping memoir, Eamonn Mallie takes us on an extraordinary journey through his life as a journalist in Northern Ireland. From the frontlines of the Troubles to the corridors of power, Mallie’s fearless reporting and unrelenting pursuit of the truth have made him a legendary figure in Irish journalism. Having gained unparalleled access to key players, Mallie shares his reflections on his groundbreaking interviews with John Hume, Gerry Adams, Margaret Thatcher, Ian Paisley, Bill Clinton, Tony Blair and a host of other influential figures involved in the peace process. From adrenaline-fuelled moments on the ground to frank conversations with political heavyweights, Eyewitness to War and Peace is a captivating read that sheds new light on the challenges and triumphs of navigating the world of journalism in a divided society. An unflinching testament to the power of investigative reporting and the enduring pursuit of peace, this is a must-read for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of Northern Ireland’s troubled past and its hopeful future.
Barcelona, Mary Costello (paperback April 2025)
£9.99
In Barcelona, we meet a cast of characters who live turbulent inner lives. In a Spanish hotel room a marriage unravels as a young wife is haunted by a past love. A father travels to Paris to meet his scientist son and is exposed to his son's true nature.
A woman attends a reading by a famous author and comes to some painful realisations about her own marriage. The stories in Barcelona reveal the underlying disquiet of modern life and the sometimes brutal nature of humanity. Whether on city streets, long car journeys or in suburban rooms, we glimpse characters as they approach those moments of desperation - or revelation - that change or reshape fate.
Best Loved Irish Legends, Eithne Massey ( paperback 2018)
£11.99
Stories from long, long ago, part of an ancient oral tradition, handed down from generation to generation and written down by the Christian monks of medieval Ireland.
This hugely popular book is now available in paperback.
FAVOURITE LEGENDS include The Salmon of Knowledge - How Cu Chulainn Got His Name - The Children of Lir - The King with Donkey's Ears- Fionn and the Giant - The White Wolfhound- Oisin
Breakdown, Cathy Sweeney ( paperback Feb25)
£9.99
Irish Tatler's Woman of the Year for Literature
AN Post Irish Book Awards's Best New Irish Writers
A novel about one woman's decision to leave everything behind 'Thrillingly relatable' Harper's Bazaar'This funny, thoughtful novel will resonate with lots of women' Good Housekeeping'You won't be able to put this down. A fascinating study of a woman who has sacrificed her dreams' The Gloss'A masterful account of one woman's dramatic rebellion against society's demands'Daily Express'A vivid portrait of a woman adrift' ObserverMothers are not supposed to go on road trips . .
. But one winter morning in Dublin, an ordinary woman wakes up in her ordinary home, her husband next to her in bed, her teenage children sleeping nearby. And - without thinking much about it - walks out the front door and never comes back.
So begins a journey which will take her into service stations and shopping centres, hotel bars and hairdressers - and the beds of strange men. Until finally, forty-eight hours later, alone in a cottage in Wales, the woman faces up to what she has been ignoring inside herself, her family, modern society: signs of breakdown.
Wild Houses, Colin Barrett ( paperback Jan 2025)
£9.99
**One of the Observer's Debut Novels of 2024**
A small-town feud. A madcap kidnapping. A wild weekend to change everybody's lives...
As Ballina prepares for its biggest weekend of the year, the simmering feud between small-time drug-dealer, Cillian English, and County Mayo's enforcers, Gabe and Sketch Ferdia, spills over into violence and an ugly ultimatum. When the reclusive Dev answers his door on Friday night he finds Doll - Cillian's teenage brother - in the clutches of Gabe and Sketch. Jostled by his nefarious cousins and goaded by his dead mother's dog, Dev is drawn headlong into the Ferdias' revenge fantasy.
Meanwhile, seventeen-year-old Nicky can't shake the feeling something bad has happened to her boyfriend Doll. Hungover, reeling from a fractious Friday night and plagued by ghosts of her own, Nicky sets out on a feverish mission to save Doll, even as she questions her future in Ballina.
Sunburn, Chloe Michelle Howarth ( paperback June 2023)
£10.99
Sunburn : Shortlisted for the 2023 Nero Book Award for Debut Fiction
It's the early 1990s, and in the Irish village of Crossmore, Lucy feels out of place. Despite her fierce friendships, she's always felt this way, and the conventional path of marriage and motherhood doesn't appeal to her at all. Not even with handsome and doting Martin, her closest childhood friend.
Lucy begins to make sense of herself during a long hot summer, when a spark with her school friend Susannah escalates to an all-consuming infatuation, and, very quickly, to a desperate and devastating love. Fearful of rejection from her small and conservative community, Lucy begins living a double life, hiding the most honest parts of herself in stolen moments with Susannah. But with the end of school and the opportunity to leave Crossmore looming, Lucy must choose between two places, two people and two futures, each as terrifying as the other.
But only one can offer her real happiness. Sunburn is an astute and tender portrayal of first love, adolescent anxiety and the realities of growing up in a small town where tradition holds people tightly in its grasp.
This Is My Sea, Miriam Mulcahy ( paperback May 2024)
£10.99
Full of wisdom and poetry and epic emotion, This is My Sea explores grief, memory and loss through vivid words and striking imagery. It echoes lost summers and the beauty of life, like a shell held to the ear' - Ed O'Loughlin.
Over the course of seven difficult years Miriam Mulcahy lost her mother, father and sister, each grief threatening to drown her. But instead of going under she discovered the lessons of the sea, letting the water teach her how to get through anything in life: one breath builds on another, another stroke, another kick and you will get home.
THIS IS MY SEA takes our greatest fear, death, and wraps it up in language so fine and beautiful that the reader is carried along and comforted by how completely lost Miriam was and how she found solace in all the things that sustained her: books, music, art, friends, love, swimming, and of course the sea.
Water, John Boyne ( Hardback Nov 23)
£12.99
'Boyne tells us a story we thought we knew, but strips away the ideology to present a new way of seeing. A book that opens your eyes is a rare one indeed' Claire Kilroy
From internationally bestselling author John Boyne comes a masterfully reflective story about one woman coming to terms with the demons of her past and finding a new path forward.
The first thing Vanessa Carvin does when she arrives on the island is change her name. To the locals, she is Willow Hale, a solitary outsider escaping Dublin to live a hermetic existence in a small cottage, not a notorious woman on the run from her past. But scandals follow like hunting dogs.
And she has some questions of her own to answer. If her ex-husband is really the monster everyone says he is, then how complicit was she in his crimes? Escaping her old life might seem like a good idea but the choices she has made throughout her marriage have consequences. Here, on the island, Vanessa must reflect on what she did - and did not do.
Only then can she discover whether she is worthy of finding peace at all. _
Wild Geese, Soula Emmanuel ( paperback May 2024)
£9.99
Searingly sharp, deliciously funny, profound' Danielle McLaughlinNew home, new name and newly thirty: Phoebe Forde has stepped into emigrant life in Copenhagen with her anxious dog, Dolly. Almost three years into her gender transition, she has learned to move through the world carefully, savouring small moments of joy. A woman without a past can be anyone she wants - that is, until an unexpected visit from Grace, her first love, brings memories of Dublin and a life she thought she'd left behind.
Over the course of a single weekend, as their old romance kindles something sweet and radically unfamiliar, Grace helps Phoebe to navigate the jagged edges of migration, nostalgia and hope.
Paperback May 2024
Windfall : Irish Nature Poems to Inspire and Connect by Jane Clarke
£20.99
What does Ireland's nature poetry say about us as a people? How does it speak to us of our past, our inheritance, the values to which we aspire? What clues lie within its language that connect us to our deeper selves and our place within our communities and environments?As varied as our plants, animals and habitats, Windfall: Irish Nature Poems to Inspire and Connect presents a portrait of an ever-changing vista. Jane Carkill's captivating original illustrations of Ireland's rich and diverse natural world add to the sense of enchantment and wonder. Each poem pays attention to nature while also reflecting on the loves and losses of our everyday lives.Award-winning poet Jane Clarke's selection includes some of our best-known poets, from Seamus Heaney, Eavan Boland, Michael Longley, Paula Meehan, Nuala Ni Dhomhnail, Eilean Ni Chuilleanain and Paul Muldoon. There are poems here to make us laugh and cry, to help us celebrate and grieve; poems to put words on what can seem inexpressible as we connect to the other living beings with which we share this island.
The Cures of Ireland : A Treasury of Irish Folk Remedies by Cecily Gilligan
£22.99
It’s said that almost everyone in Ireland, particularly in rural communities, will know of someone with a ‘cure’. It might be for the mumps, a stye in the eye, or a sprain. Indeed the author of Cures of Ireland, Cecily Gilligan was herself cured of jaundice and ringworm by a ‘seventh son’ in her local Sligo during her childhood.
Cecily Gilligan has been researching the rich world of Irish folk cures for almost forty years and, given the tradition has largely been an oral one, has been interviewing a broad range of people from around the country who possess these mystical cures, and those who have benefited from their gifts. One has a cure for eczema that comprises herbal butter balls, another ‘buys’ warts from the sufferer with safety pins. There are stories of clay from graves with precious healing properties and pieces of cords from potato bags being sent across the world to treat asthma.
While the Ireland of the twenty-first century continues to develop at lightning speed, there is something deeply comforting and reassuring in the fact that these ancient healing traditions, while fewer in number, do survive to this day. Cures of Ireland is an exquisite book that will be treasured by many generations to come.
Duffy and Son, Damian Owens ( paperback August 2023)
£9.99
A heart-warming and hilarious novel about life, love, and the weight of all we leave unsaid, Duffy & Son is a quietly moving masterpiece from one of Ireland's most gifted comic writers. Eugene Duffy is turning 70; his son Jim is turning 40. For decades now, they've been running the family hardware shop and living in good-natured bachelor harmony.But time is marching on, and with thoughts of old age weighing heavily on his mind, Eugene is growing increasingly concerned about his son's future. He resolves to help in the best way possible: by finding Jim a wife. And he's not going to let anyone - let alone Jim himself - stand in his way.
Reminiscent of Fredrik Backman's bestselling novel A Man Called Ove, Duffy and Son contains a likeable but curmudgeonly main character, wry humour, tremendous heart, as well as a strong sense of community
Lazy City, Rachel Connolly ( paperback 6 June 2024)
£9.99
Following the death of her best friend, Erin has to get out of London. Returning home to Belfast, an au pair job provides a partial refuge from her grief and her volatile relationship with her mother. Erin spends late nights at the bar where her childhood friend Declan works.There Erin meets an American academic who is also looking to get lost. Parallel to this she reconnects with an old flame, Mikey. This brings its own web of complications.
With a startlingly fresh and original voice - jarringly funny, cranky, often hungover - Lazy City depicts the strange, meandering aftermath that follows disaster.
