Irish Writing
Midwinter, Michael Harding ( hardback October 2025)
£19.99
On frosty nights, as he sits by a flickering fire, Michael Harding withdraws into the stillness of winter and begins to reckon with age and death. As stories emerge from the shadows, we meet a young boy whose arrival brings hope, but whose journey will know winter's path. November is a rainstorm, December a bleak twilight, but as January dawns and the icethaws, the fragile light of love penetrates the dark, bringing beauty to the earth and making new beginnings possible.
In writing of shadowed beauty, Midwinter is a poignant exploration of a season of loss, and the glimpses of hope that can follow even the longest nights. Snow falls within. Blanketing the heart in peace.
Winter's dream takes hold. This book is dedicated to everyone at Pieta House, a suicide prevention charity. This is a work of non-fiction apart from the character of Martin who is fictional but whose story reflects the heartache and loss so many families endure every year.
Heap Earth Upon It, Chloe Michelle Howarth ( hardback Oct 2025)
£16.99
January 1965. The orphaned O'Leary siblings - Tom, Jack, Anna and Peggy - arrive in the village of Ballycrea, tight-lipped about their troubled past and desperate for a fresh start. After being met with suspicion from most of the locals, the family are thrilled when they're taken under the wing of their well-respected neighbours, Bill and Betty Nevan, who offer them work, companionship and an opportunity to fit in.
But for one of the O'Learys, this new friendship sparks an intense attachment that makes the dynamic dangerous for all. It's difficult to bury secrets, but almost impossible to bury feelings...
Alternative Irish Christmas - An Anthology (hardback 2025)
£20.00
Celebrate the darker season with new stories and essays from the best and most exciting Irish writersWhen shadows grow longer, when expectation weighs heavy, how do people in Ireland mark Christmas?
A woman shops for a very particular Christmas dinner: a man tries to buy a puppy for his daughter: a girl watches as her mother roasts a fowl over an open fire.
From old traditions to the creation of new ones, from moments of quiet reflection to chaos, comedy and even horror, this alternative seasonal collection reflects the stunning breadth of experiences an Irish Christmas offers.
Duffy and Son, Damien Owens ( paperback 2023)
£10.99
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.
Oscar Wilde's Stories for Children ( hardback, Little Island Press)
£19.99
Beautifully produced by Little Island Press, this is a special gift for adults and children alike. With a 2025 foreword by Colm Toibin, it is sure to be a limited edition collector's book in the future.
Show Me Where it Hurts, Claire Gleeson ( hardback)
£18.99
WINNER OF THE IRISH BOOK AWARDS NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR 2025'A searingly beautiful novel'Jennie Godfrey, author of The List of Suspicious Things'Brilliantly written'Claire Fuller, author of Unsettled GroundHow do you survive the unsurvivable?Rachel lives with her husband Tom and their two children: it's the ordinary family life she always thought she'd have. All of that changes in an instant - when Tom runs the family car off the road, seeking to end his own life, and take his wife and children with him. Rachel is left to pore over the wreckage to try and understand what happened - to find a way to go on living afterwards.
What emerges is a snapshot of what it's like to live alongside someone who is suffering, how you keep yourself afloat when the person you love is drowning, and how you survive irreparable loss. Impossible to turn away from, Show Me Where It Hurts is a compelling, heartbreaking and ultimately life-affirming story of recovery and unexpected hope.
