A novel by Edna O'Brien One warm summer evening last year, I picked up a first edition of The Country Girl from the bookshelf in a house where I was staying and I did not leave my place by the window until I had read it from start to finish. To read the story of Kate and Baba after 30 years was like drinking clear spring water from the wells that abound in Miss O'Brien's native … [Read more...] about Time and Tide
Books
Review of Books | recently published books
Where They Lie By Claire CoughlanThis atmospheric thriller is slightly reminiscent of John Banville’s Quirke series, but with a junior reporter at the center of events rather than a pathologist. Nicoletta Sarto might be young, but she’s fiercely ambitious. When she happens to be on duty around Christmas 1968, just as the discovery of bones in a Dublin garden is reported to … [Read more...] about Review of Books | recently published books
“The Enchanted Bay”
It is a little-known fact that Ernie O’Malley, renowned for his role in Ireland’s revolutionary struggle, was also a passionate collector of Irish folklore. “The Enchanted Bay: Tales and Legends from Ernie O’Malley’s Irish Folklore Collection,” by Cormac K. H. O’Malley and Patrick J. Mahoney, is a testament to O’Malley’s multifaceted legacy. Ernie O'Malley (1897-1957) is … [Read more...] about “The Enchanted Bay”
“The Good Sport”
In this excerpt from his memoir The Good Sport, Kevin White takes us on his journey as an Irish Catholic kid growing up in “blue-collar” Amityville on Long Island while scrambling to help his parents make ends meet, to the position of “the best of the best” among intercollegiate athletic directors of his generation.Navigating the winding roads, with endless rotaries, up to … [Read more...] about “The Good Sport”
Review of Books | Recently Published Books
Somebody Knows By Michelle McDonagh This is only Michelle McDonagh’s second novel, but the Galway native (transplanted to Cork) already has the knack of making it look easy. Journalist Cara Joyce is grieving the imminent loss of her adoptive mother, when she overhears something about her origins that leads her to an old case she thinks about from time to time – the discovery … [Read more...] about Review of Books | Recently Published Books