WriteZone Recommended Readings
- A Different Journey
By Fr. Brian D'Arcy (Sliabh Ban
)A compelling, heartbreaking and, at times, hilarious story
of the struggle between human nature and vocation.- A Thousand Splendid Suns
A Thousand Splendid Suns
by Khalid Hosseini
This novel explores the turbulent history of modern Afghanistan through the lives of two young characters' and offers extraordinarily harrowing insights into the lives of Afghan women over the past three decades. Read On..
- Among These Winters
Among These Winters
By Mary O'Donoghue (Dedalus Press)
This collection opens with an epigraph from Rilke on the heartbreak of parting, and stays mindful of this theme.- Apples in Winter
Apples in Winter
By Liam Aungier (Doghouse Press)
A debut collection from a poet whose work has been winning recognition since the early 1990s.- At a Time Like This
At a Time Like This
by Catherine Dunne
Four women gather to celebrate their friendship. A quarter-century of intimacies shared, betrayals survived, differences reconciled. There is Claire, with her unsuitable men; she knows that life will never give her the one thing she has always wanted. Read On
- Bockety: A Memoir
Bockety: A Memoir
By Des Ellis
A beautifully written and affectionate remembrance of the way things used to be in the Dublin of the 1950s. (Brandon)- Body Surfing
Body Surfing
By Anita Shreve (Published by Little Brown)
In simple yet eloquent style, Shreve portrays the arc of a complicated romantic relationship, from infatuation to betrayal.- Collected Poems of Francis Harvey
Collected Poems of Francis Harvey
(Dedalus Press).
Bringing together work from four previous collections with a selection of new poems, this collection shows Francis Harvey to be as attentive as ever to the wonders of the natural world.- Complicated Pleasures
Complicated Pleasures
Billy Ramsell (Dedalus Press).
A collection of poems combining lyrical meditations on love, art and memory with darker works that confront the pressures and uncertainties of an urban globalised world.- Connemara
Connemara
By Tim Robinson. (published by Penguin)
An account of the author's extraordinary engagement with the mountains, bogs and shorelines of the region: a work as beautiful and surprising as the place it attempts to describe.- Founded on Fear
Founded on Fear
by Peter Tyrrell
published by Transworld Ireland
A tormented childhood in Letterfrack industrial school with the Christian Brothers left an enduring mark on Peter Tyrrell. His story of horrific abuse is told with childlike simplicity, penned in a series of letters to Senator Owen Sheehy Skeffington.
- Freshly Rooted
Freshly Rooted
Emily Wall (Salmon)
In these poems, the speaker navigates the new country of marriage, re-imaging herself to make a new place as familiar as home.- Memoir
Memoir
By John McGahern (Faber)At the heart of the "Memoir" is a son's unembarrassed tribute to his mother.
- On Chesil Beach
On Chesil Beach
By Ian McEwan (Published by Jonathan Cape)
A short novel of quite remarkable depth, power and poignancy by a writer at the height of his powers about how a life can be changed by a gesture not made, a word not spoken.- Redemption Falls
Redemption Falls
By Joseph O'Connor (Harvill Secker).
A riveting historical novel of war and forgiveness from the author of the internationally best-selling Star of the Sea.- Ship of Dreams
Ship of Dreams
By Martina Devlin. (Poolbeg)
The author's first historical novel opens on a Titanic lifeboat - inspired by the true story of her great grand-uncle who drowned on the Titanic.- Suite Francaise
Suite Francaise
By Irene Nemirovsky. (Translation: Sandra Smith).
An extraordinary work of fiction about the German occupation of France embedded in a real story as gripping and complex as the invented one.- The Book Club
The Book Club
By Kate McCabe
Bestselling author of The Beach Bar
Looking for a way to take her mind off her lying ex – Marian Hunt decides to start a book club. And pretty soon, it begins to take off … Christy Grimes thinks the book club will help his beloved wife in her recovery from a stroke, but little does he know the effect it will have on him. Read On...
- The Boy With No Face
The Boy With No Face
By Kevin Higgins (Salmon)
In this collection, the poet casts a sharply critical eye over contemporary society- The Currach Requires No Harbours
The Currach Requires No Harbours
By Medbh McGuckian (Gallery Press)
Shortlisted for the Irish Times Poetry Now Award- The Emperor's Children
The Emperor's Children
By Claire Messud (Picador)
A powerful, stylistically complex narrative that explores New York society from the inside out using the last days of relative innocence before 9/11 as its backdrop.- The Gathering
The Gathering
By Anne Enright.(Jonathan Cape)
A family epic, condensed and clarified through the remarkable lens of Anne Enright�s unblinking eye. Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize- The King of Suburbia
The King of Suburbia
By Iggy McGovern (Dedalus Press)
Winner of the inaugural Glen Dimplex New Writer Award for Poetry 2006- The Orchid Keeper
The Orchid Keeper
By Paul Perry (Dedalus Press)
Each poem bristles with life and longing, intelligence and wit. Paul Perry is a prodigiously gifted poet. (Fred D'Aguiar)- The Waiting Room
The Waiting Room
Margaret Galvin (Doghouse Press)
A third collection of poems from the editor of Ireland's Own.- Vanishing Ireland
Vanishing Ireland
A unique collection of portrait interviews looking at the dying ways and traditions of Irish life.
By Turtle Bunbury and James Fennell (Published Hodder Ireland).- Walk the Blue Fields
Walk the Blue Fields
By Claire Keegan (Faber and Faber).
Claire Keegan observes an Ireland wrestling with its past, and it is against this landscape that the stories so beautifully articulate all the yearnings of the human heart.
