Young Skins By Colin Barrett Glanbeigh, the fictional Everytown of Mayo native Colin Barrett’s Young Skins, is “nowhere you have been, but you know its ilk,” asserts the narrator of the collection’s opening short story. Barrett borrows from the techniques of William Faulkner and Gabriel García Márquez, immediately setting his debut book in the tradition of literary giants – … [Read more...] about Review of Books
Book Reviews
New Edition of John Kerr's "Cardigan Bay" (Review)
As a work-a-day archival historian, I am generally allergic to historical fiction. But occasionally I discover a novel that reaches into the minds of contemporaries in a way that historians themselves cannot match because they are usually tied to written evidence. Sometimes there is a psychological dimension to historical insight that comes across in the art of the novel, for … [Read more...] about New Edition of John Kerr's "Cardigan Bay" (Review)
Review of Books
FICTION Nora Webster By Colm Tóibín Colm Tóibín’s latest novel Nora Webster finds the gifted Irish author writing one of his most personal novels since Brooklyn. Throughout Nora Webster, Tóibín taps into his early childhood growing up in Wexford, the death of his father, and the perseverance of his mother. His penchant for character-driven plot and psychological insight is … [Read more...] about Review of Books
Irish Art and Architecture: After Kells
The Book of Kells is often thought of as the embodiment of the Irish visual style, but a new publication promises to change the way we look at art and architecture in Ireland. Sharon Ní Chonchúir investigates the breadth of new five-volume tome, which covers 1,600 years of visual and structural art in Ireland. Every self-respecting person of Irish origin is able to list the … [Read more...] about Irish Art and Architecture: After Kells
We Are Not Ourselves:
Matthew Thomas’s Accomplished Debut
Matthew Thomas, whose debut novel is receiving rave reviews, talks to Tom Deignan.
Before he became a celebrated debut novelist, Matthew Thomas was an English teacher, so he could surely spot the flaw in the following item from The New York Post’s infamous “Page Six” gossip column.
“Matthew Thomas is the toast of the publishing world overnight after We Are Not Ourselves — a … [Read more...] about We Are Not Ourselves:
Matthew Thomas’s Accomplished Debut