Mary Lavin is probably one of the best short story writers you have never heard of. A former staffer at The New Yorker in its heyday, Joyce Carol Oates has called her one of the ‘finest short story writers of the twentieth century’. Her stories are, in the main, concerned with the domestic sphere and…
Read more No 537 Happiness by Mary Lavin #readingirelandmonth19
Ante-Room (noun): A room before, or forming an entrance to, another A small room, especially a waiting room, that leads into a larger, more important room The Ante-Room, Kate O’Brien’s second novel, was published in 1934, but is set in 1880. A deeply moral work, it focuses on the lives of the prosperous Mulqueen family…
Read more No 538 The Ante-Room by Kate O’Brien #readingirelandmonth19
The title of Brian Moore’s sixth novel from 1968 could be a statement or a question, as his titular character battles with the notion of identity over the space of one day. I Am Mary Dunne, is a touching portrait of a neurotic woman trying to figure out who she was and who she has…
Read more No 539 I Am Mary Dunne by Brian Moore #readingirelandmonth19
It’s week two of Reading Ireland Month and this week I will be highlighting classic Irish literature. Last week saw the launch of the programme for the 2019 Dublin One City One Book festival, which this year features The Country Girls Trilogy by Edna O’Brien. The Country Girls Trilogy joins a long list of illustrious…
