Recommended Until releasing his latest novel, Joseph O’Neill was best known for his “family history” Blood-Dark Track (about his grandfather who was an IRA soldier) and his regular, insightful contributions to The Atlantic Monthly magazine. Add two earlier novels into this mix, and this is certainly a fine résumé. But it does not quite strike you as the background of the … [Read more...] about Review of Books
Literature
Review of Books
Mystery Declan Hughes offers another look at modern Dublin’s dark side in his latest suspense novel The Price of Blood. Private eye Ed Loy is down on his luck and broke, so he has no choice but to take what seems to be an unsolvable missing persons case. All he’s got to go on is “Father Vincent Tyrell,” a priest who’s been reported missing by his brother F.X., a prominent … [Read more...] about Review of Books
An Evening with Joe O’Connor and Colum McCann
Irish novelists Joseph O’Connor and Colum McCann enthralled an audience at the New York Public Library on November 14. As part of the fall program at the Dorothy and Lewis Cullman Center, O’Connor and McCann, both former Cullman Fellows, were there to discuss Redemption Falls, O’Connor’s novel about the American Civil War, an epic tale he wrote and researched during his … [Read more...] about An Evening with Joe O’Connor and Colum McCann
The Magic of Yeats Country Lives On
Ed: This post originally appeared in the February / March issue of Irish America after Bridget English was sent on assignment to attend the Yeats International Summer School the previous summer. The Yeats summer school is now in its 56th year and still accepting applications. Click here for more information or apply. For almost fifty years now, Sligo has played host to the … [Read more...] about The Magic of Yeats Country Lives On
She Writes What She Knows: Alice McDermott
More than any other writer over the past quarter century, Alice McDermott has chronicled the joys and tragedies of Irish-American families. Alice McDermott’s novels explore love, loss, faith and family in the world of Irish Catholics living in post-World War II suburban Long Island, New York, where the author grew up. Charming Billy tells the story of Billy Lynch, his lost … [Read more...] about She Writes What She Knows: Alice McDermott