A new discovery for me, Trevor won the Whitbread three times and was shortlisted for the Booker prize five times, so I am clearly late to the game! He comes…
Felicia’s Journey by William Trevor
The Last September by Elizabeth Bowen
Felt like an obvious September pick, but this wasn’t the effortless read I expected. I’ve enjoyed Bowen before, yet I found myself wading through a slightly disjointed narrative, with many…
Trespasses by Louise Kennedy
This is a beautiful book with a powerful message about Northern Irish culture. This novel paints a haunting picture of a fractured community through the eye’s of a brave young…
Poor by Katriona O’Sullivan
This is a powerful memoir, full of heart-stopping moments in a “wrong side of the tracks” childhood. It’s a topical book about what happens to children who grow up in…
August is a Wicked Month by Edna O’Brien
I really wanted to love this book more than I did. I knew this book had been controversial/banned when it first came out in 1965 so I was expecting a…
So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan
A novella that follows a lonely Friday summer evening during which Cathal leaves his Dublin office, takes the bus home, and wanders around his place, thinking about Sabine. Sabine, the…
Foster by Claire Keegan
Happy to have finally read this, it’s always a pleasure to sit down with a book like this. For such a short book I feel like it’s a slow burn?!…
The Forgotten Waltz by Anne Enright
This isn’t written so long ago, but some of it felt “of its time”, especially when it came to describing people’s bodies. I also didn’t like some of the characters….
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
Another read that I had been anticipating: Keegan’s novella did not disappoint. It’s a really satisfying well-paced narrative that totally transports you to its pre-Christmas atmosphere: tired, fraught, social, yet…
Sweet Home by Wendy Erskine
Short stories: yay or nay? This is my second collection of short stories from Wendy Erskine and I’m hooked. (This is her first collection, but I started with her 2nd…