Irish America
Irish America
Forever Home By Graham Norton Living in a small town, Carol is well used to the way people know everything about you … or think they do, at least. As a divorced mother of one son, she is particularly susceptible to the sidelong glances, particularly when she starts seeing an older man. Declan’s wife left the family home years earlier, and his children really don’t like Carol … [Read more...] about Darina Molloy’s Review of Books
Having spent decades writing about crooks and killers, what seedy corner of America’s immigrant underworld could best-selling author TJ English explore next? Jazz, of course! OK, this might seem like a strange fit. In books like The Westies and Where the Bodies are Buried, English took a close look at ruthless Irish American gangsters from Hell’s Kitchen to South Boston. Then … [Read more...] about An Interview with T. J English
Haven by Emma Donoghue It’s seventh-century Ireland. Clonmacnoise is a newish monastic settlement, with about thirty monks in residence, along with the families who work for them and an order of nuns. The monastery also offers temporary accommodation to guests who come to study or just to retreat from the world. One of these visitors, Artt, believes in harder fasting than is … [Read more...] about Fall 2022 Book Reviews
Quarantines are not without their benefits. During the early months of the pandemic, I was able to reduce my bedside leaning tower of books before it toppled over on my head. Two of the best deal with Northern Ireland. Together they are essential to understanding the conflict. Maurice Fitzpatrick’s John Hume in America: From Derry to DC tells the story of a man who, in the face … [Read more...] about Understanding Northern Ireland’s “Troubles”
Patrick Radden Keefe’s book Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland was described as “a murder mystery political history,” when it was presented as a finalist for the 2019 National Book Critics Circle Award, which Keefe eventually won. “Shifting smoothly among scenes with explosive, thriller-like pacing and deeply engrossing psychological profiles,” … [Read more...] about A Conversation with Patrick Radden Keefe
