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
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
A Galway Epiphany by Ken Bruen Ken Bruen’s Jack Taylor series – set in Galway – are very much books of their place and time. Bruen evokes Galway so realistically that the reader is there with Jack as he meanders down Shop Street or heads for a pint in Garavan’s or encounters trouble down by the Corrib. And because Jack listens to the same news, we watch through his eyes as a … [Read more...] about Darina Molloy’s Irish Book Reviews
On swanky hotels, Gráinne O’Malley’s tailor-made pirate outfits, and her own unusual hidden talent. ℘℘℘ Mary Beth Keane’s novel, Ask Again, Yes, is a lyrical, moving tale spanning 40 years about family, love, alcoholism and mental illness. Told with tenderness and empathy for the human condition, it is juxtaposed with just the right amount of humor to carry the story along. … [Read more...] about What Are You Like? Writer Mary Beth Keane
1,000 Books to Read Before You Die By James Mustich If you can get past what is clearly one of the more intimidating book titles you will ever come across, this volume is a wonder to dip in and out, in small or large doses. And not surprisingly, it is loaded with Irish titles – some classics, others unjustly forgotten. There is, of course, James Joyce (Dubliners, A Portrait … [Read more...] about Book Reviews
