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Read Ireland Book Reviews, February 2003
The Mob: The History of Irish Gangsters
in America by James Durney
The Irish criminal gangs of America first surfaced in
New York in the 1830s and from then until the present they have been a
major force in organized crime. Irish gangsters dominated organized crime
long before the Mafia had appeared in the New World. The slums of America’s
biggest cities produced some of the most vicious hoodlums who have left
their mark on that country’s criminal history. Leg Diamond, Mad Dog Coll,
Bugs Moran and Cockeye Dunn were all the products of the American dream
turned sour. This book is their story, beginning with the birth of organized
crime through the turbulent Civil War, Prohibition and the founding of
the present day Syndicate. It is a fascinating and rich account with dozens
of characters and stories. It traces the informal history of the rise
of the street gangs to the present day; from the New York City Draft Riots
in 1863 to the ultraviolent Westies of the 1980s. The Irish gangster brought
America its first taste of organized crime and heralded the beginning
of the country’s ‘second government.’ This is a book for all those who
loved the recent film, ‘The Gangs of New York’.
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Dublin Dining: New Recipes from Dublin’s
Finest Chefs edited by Paul Rankin
Cockles and mussels are not the only tempting food on
offer in this fair city of Dublin - undisputedly one of the trendiest
and most vibrant cities in Europe - has an unrivalled reputation for its
outstanding cuisine. In this book the cream of the city’s top chefs share
the secrets of their signature dishes to bring the reader a sumptuous
collection of flavours, textures and menus to die for. Whilst some of
the featured establishments are household names, others reflect the new
generation of chefs that are taking Dublin by storm.
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Irish Gardens by Orla FitzGerald
The gardens of Ireland are famed for their great beauty,
variety and distinctive charm. Fine rain, soft sunshine, the warmth of
the Gulf Stream, and the dramatic settings of rivers and mountains combine
to create the perfect conditions for the creation of magical gardens of
breathtaking diversity. This enchanting book celebrates twenty of the
best Irish gardens, telling their fascinating stories, revealing their
secrets and evoking their particular atmospheres. They range from historical
gardens like Mount Stewart in County Down, with its eclectic collection
of Moorish and Art Deco styles, and lush vegetable gardens like Ballymaloe
in Cork, to wild, romantic paradises like Ilnacullin in Bantry Bay, planted
with exotics from Tasmania, China and Japan. Many of the gardens are newly
planted or recently restored and have never been written about or photographed
before. A personal friend of many of the owners, the author paints an
informed and intimate portrait of these gardens and the people who created
and maintain them. Each garden is explored, its design and planting analysed
and its layout illustrated by a detailed plan. A comprehensive Visitor’s
guide gives addresses and opening times. Sumptuous photography conveys
the unique mood of these very special and intriguing gardens.
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The Raggy Boy Trilogy by Patrick Galvin
Song for a Poor Boy is the acclaimed first volume of
Patrick Galvin’s memoirs, the singular story - comical, surreal and moving
- of a 1930s Cork childhood. Growing up in an era of poverty and intolerance,
Galvin tells of tenement sing-songs and marching Blueshirts, his parents
bittersweet marriage, of a man who turned into a seagull, and the neighbouring
Jew who turned a future poet onto the magic of literature. But bitter
winds blow and, in 1939, Patrick Galvin left Cork, handcuffed to a policeman,
for three years’ detention in a brutal State reformatory. Thus begins
the harrowing yet at times second part of the trilogy, Song for a Raggy
Boy. It is a survivor’s account that is also an unsparing indictment of
the Ireland that all but ate its young. And Song for a Fly Boy, published
here for the first time, is set during the War years. Opening in an RAF
recruiting office in Belfast in 1942, Galvin lies about his age, falls
for Betty Grable and signs up for Sierra Leone, the Western Sahara and
the occupied Palestine. What follows is an anti-war story a la Catch-22,
a heart-rending, often hallucinatory, account of the folly that is war.
Beautifully sung, Song for a Fly Boy is the perfect coda to a stunning
trilogy.
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Rivers of Ireland: A Flyfisher’s Guide
5th edition by Peter O’Reilly
Complete revised and updated, with new information, this
thoroughly researched and expanded guide to Ireland’s trout and salmon
rivers is now even more useful to visiting and local anglers. It is the
only comprehensive guide to Irish rivers and contains a full description
of every river, the species present, the most productive stretches, stock
levels, average size, catch records, local permit requirements (with names,
addresses, phone numbers, emails and websites of fishery owners), best
flies to use, open and close season dates, best fishing times of the year.
This new edition also includes, for the first time, contact details of
fishing guides whose services can be hired, local tackle shops, resident
flytyers, qualified fly casting instructors and details of disabled anglers’
facilities.
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Captain of the Ash by Brendan Fullam
This book is the latest hurling tribute from the best-selling
author. Spanning every decade of the GAA, over seventy captains of All-Ireland
winning teams come to life in this book about ordinary men and women doing
extraordinary deeds on the playing field. From Jim Stapleton, who captained
the 1887 champions, to Andy Comerford of 2002 fame, each captain led their
team to glory. Remember historic hurling moments with heroic captains
including Tom Semple, ‘Drug’ Walsh, Mick Mackey, Dick Doyle, Kathleen
Mills, Jim Ware and Jack Lynch. Powerful names from distant times, among
them Mickey Maher, Lory Meagher and Christy Ring, are profield along with
recent stars including Tomas Mulcahy, Anthony Daly, Angela Downey, Willie
O’Connor and Mark Landers. The book also hails Ger Fennelly, Hubert Rigney,
Niall Patterson, Brian Cody, Tom Cashman, Billy Fitzpatrick, Eamon Grimes
and Bobby Ryan. The book relives many of the great moments of the hurling
calendar with epic matches, amazing battles and deeds of outstanding bravery.
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Irish Book of Death and Flying Ships:
From the Chronicles of Ancient Ireland by Tim Coates
’Ships, with their sailors, were seen in the air over
Clonmacnoise Ireland, at this time, felt another scourge besides that
of the Danes, for it was destroyed by strange worms - having six feet
and two teeth harder than stones - which consumed all that was green in
the land A strange think fell out this year, which was two suns had their
courses together throughout the space of one day Evil signs too; the heavens
seemed to glow with comets, a flame of fire arose A bolt of fire passed,
and it killed 1000 persons and flocks There came not in Ireland since
it was discovered, and there will come till the day of judgement, a vengeance
like it Maelduin Mac Ciarmaic (who had profaned the effigy of the Lady
Mary) killed by the disease that killeth cattle ‘ Extracted from a ‘Table
of Cosmical Phenomenona, epizootics, famines and pestilences in Ireland’
(included in The Census of Ireland for the Year 1851), the monastic and
other annals quoted here cover the earliest time to which tradition refers
(as transmitted by the bards) and up to the end of the 11th century AD.
The history of the early plagues shows that people tried to account for
sudden outbursts of disease, either by the direct and miraculous interposition
of Providence, or by some peculiar atmospheric condition. This is an inspired
book, very good to read, and inexorably moving.
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The Mountains of Mourne: A Celebration
of a Place Apart by David Kirk
The Mountains of Mourne have a ‘specialness’ all their
own. The extraordinary scenery has fired the imaginations of poets, writers,
artists, botanists, naturalists, hillwalkers and climbers the world over
for generations. In this book, the author captures the spirit of the place,
and its inhabitants, with an inspiring collection of over 200 of his own
atmospheric colour photographs and a charming selection of evocative poems
and writings from various writers who have all been equally captivated
with the Mournes over the years. Thought-provoking chapters on the geology
and geography of the landscape, vegetation, conservation, and life on
the land are accompanied by an extensive glossary and bibliography, and
the well-known conservationist and mountaineer Dawson Stelfox provides
a stimulating foreword.
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Rare Old Dublin: Heroes, Hawkers and
Hoors by Frank Hopkins
Pirates executed in St. Stephen’s Green; Mother Bungy’s
‘sink of sin’ in what is now Temple Bar; the Viking Thingmote in College
Green, where human sacrifices took place; the South Dublin Union, feared
by the capital’s poorer citizens; hidden holy wells on the city streets;
these are just some of the aspects of Dublin’s past uncovered by the author
in this surprising and entertaining book. Famous sons and daughters of
the city also make an appearance: Peg Woffington, the beautiful actress
who rose from the slums to enjoy stardom at Covent Garden; Jack Langan,
the bare-knuckle boxer of Ballybough; Sir Charles Cameron, the public
health specialist who devised a bounty scheme for captured houseflies
in 1911; and the Dolocher, the savage eighteenth-century beast in the
form of a pig who turned out to be a man. Rogues and charlatans, heroes
and harlots a-plenty stride through the pages of this book bringing colourful
historical Dublin to life.
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Paranormal Ireland: An Investigation
into the Other Side of Irish Life by Dara deFaoite
Reports on sightings of UFOs in Co. Roscommon in 1997
set in train a passionate interest in the paranormal and inspired this
author to write this probing guide and scholarly book. The book goes beyond
recounting stories of hauntings, ghosts, poltergeists, UFOs, lake monsters
and strange animals lurking in secluded woods to reveal a rare insight
into what science has failed to explain.
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Irish Army Vehicles: Transport and
Armour Since 1922 by Karl Martin
This is the first book of its kind ever published on
the Irish Army and its transport and armour. It is based on over 10 years
of research in Ireland and the U.K. It has over 400 photos and drawings,
detailed captions and notes.
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The Boyne and the Blackwater by Sir
William Wilde
This book was written by Sir William Wilde in 1849 and
gives an exhaustive account of the antiquities along the Boyne Valley
and its contributory river the Blackwater, which flows through Counties
Kildare, Meath, Lough and Cavan. Along its banks are countless Ruined
Forts, Castles, Abbeys, Cairns, Tumuli including Newgrange, Knowth and
Dowth. Here too took place the famous Battle of the Boyne at Old Bridge
- a Battlefield map is included (folded) - all are graphically described
and illustrated with eighty four woodcut engravings. Now, after 150 years,
this marvellous book is reprinted from a facsimile of the original second
edition. William Wilde, Oscar’s father, was one of the most renowned Antiquarians
of his day, as well as being a Historian of note, a Naturalist and the
founder of the first Eye and Ear Hospital in Dublin
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The Irish Revolution and its Aftermath
1916-1923: Years of Revolt by Francis Costello
This book is the first full-length analysis of the Irish
revolution in its totality, taking into account the wide range of social,
economic and political developments as well as the IRA’s campaign of guerrilla
warfare and the British response to it. Drawing on previously unpublished
sources, the author paints a broad picture of the people and the key events
in the Irish struggle for independence. The book breaks new ground in
detailing the behind-the-scenes debate within the British Cabinet in dealing
with the revolt in Ireland. British official frustration provoked by the
acceptance of Dail Eireann and its mandate by the majority of the Irish
people is also chronicled. New light is shed on the Anglo-Irish Treaty
negotiations as well as on the divisions within Irish nationalism before
and indeed afterwards that culminated in the Irish Civil War. The role
of external forces including public opinion in the United States and Britain
competing obligations at home and abroad are also covered. Considerable
attention is given to the development of democratic government in the
fledgling Irish Free State in the midst of domestic upheaval, and to the
broader effort at nation building that followed the Civil War. This is
the first major work to review the Irish Revolution and its long-term
reverberations to the end of the twentieth century, and it includes the
official texts of all the agreements between Britain and Ireland since
1921.
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The New Neighbourhood of Dublin by
Joseph Hone, Maurice Craig and Michael Fewer
This book is an irresistibly readable exploration of
the sights of the city and county of Dublin. It contains fascinating descriptions
of the buildings and places of Dublin city and county and how they have
changed over the past 50 years. In 1949, the distinguished man of letters,
Joseph Hone and architectural historian Maurice Craig took 21 routes from
in the city centre to the outlying parts of the country - from Balbriggan
to Little Bray, from Ringsend to Lucan. With elegant scholarship they
detailed their findings along the routes, and the stories connected to
them. In 2001, architect Michael Fewer surveyed those routes again. This
book brings together the previously unpublished Hone and Craig text with
Fewer’s parallel notes describing the subsequent changes. The result is
a unique introduction to the richly varied built environment of Dublin
city and county.
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Newgrange and the Bend of the Boyne
by Geraldine Stout
This book is an exploration of an outstanding archaeological
landscape centred on Newgrange Passage Tomb and its greater environs.
In ancient times it was called Brugh na Boinne. Today this area is designated
as a World Heritage Site and is Ireland’s first protected Archaeological
Park. Its rich fertile soils and south-facing slopes are set in County
Meath in the most accessible, low-lying part of Ireland, close to the
Irish Sea. This is where the great prehistoric tomb-building tradition
of Atlantic Europe reached its zenith. It is where legend says the foundations
of Irish Christianity were laid and is also the home of Ireland’s first
medieval Cistercian monastery at Millifont. On the banks of the Boyne
in 1690 one of the most important battles in Irish history was fought.
The Bend of the Boynce had a pivotal role to play in Irish history and
this is evident in its abundant physical remains, which can be traced
amongst its fields and riverbanks. Through the interpretation of these
remains, this book presents an understanding of how this landscape was
organized and exploited by communities over 7000 years of settlement.
This book draws heavily on the results of an extensive programme of excavation
at Knowth, Newgrange and Monknewtown and archaeological survey, which
has greatly increased our knowledge of prehistoric societies. Using a
wide range of maps, colour photographs and historic as well as new drawings,
it traces the gradual evolution of the landscape to the present day. This
book is also concerned with the future of this protected cultural landscape
and recommends actions to ensure its protection and preservation.
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Ireland’s Welcome to the Stranger
by Asenath Nicholson, edited by Maureen Murphy
In May 1844 the American educator and reformer Asenath
Nicholson set out from New York on a fifteen-month visit to Ireland, determined
to ‘investigate the condition of the Irish poor’. Nicholson travelled
on foot through much of the island, reading the Bible to the local people
and sharing their hospitality. She describes a rural society that, despite
great poverty, received the American visitor with generosity and kindness.
Nicholson’s rich and lively account of her travels is a unique glimpst
of Ireland before the Great Hunger of 1845-52.
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Irish Republican Women in America:
Lecture Tours, 1916-1925 by Joanne Mooney Eichacker
Five Irish Republican women conducted lecture tours in
the United States from 1916 to 1925. Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington, Mary MacSwiney,
Mrs. Muriel MacSwiney, Countess Constance Markievicz, and Mrs. Margaret
Pearse. Each tour involved fund-raising, but the primary goal was to educate
and inform Americans, particularly Irish-Americans, about the injustice
of British rule in Ireland. This book examines their lecture tours in
depth: the circumstances, often controversial, of each tour; the many
people the women encountered, including the leading political figures
of the days such as President Woodrow Wilson; transcripts of their speeches;
the reaction of the American public; the politics surrounding the tour;
the press coverage and the impact of the tour. Drawing on their letters,
their speeches, press reports, and accounts of the strong impressions
the women left of their American audiences, the author paints a vivid
and personal portrait of each woman. The political astuteness and success
of Irish republican women during this period far surpassed the achievements
of their sisters in other parts of the world. This book celebrates the
heroism, conviction and enormous self-sacrifice of these women, who left
their family and friends in a war-torn Ireland to further the cause of
freedom for their country.
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County Longford and the Irish Revolution
1910-1923 by Marie Coleman
This book gives an insight into the Irish revolution,
and seeks to explain how it came about, through a study of events at a
regional level. County Longford was the scene of Sinn Fein’s crucial by-election
victories in 1917 and an active area of IRA operations during the War
of Independence. The decline of the Home Rule movement in the country
up to the eve of the by-election in May 1917 paralleled the fate of the
movement nationally and also in other parts of the country. The weakness
of the home rule campaign during the South Longford by-election reflected
the level of decline which had taken hold. While the victory of the Sinn
Fein candidate, Joe McGuinness, was ensured by the controversial intervention
of the archbishop of Dublin, Sinn Fein had a much better organization
than the weak and divided Irish Parliamentary Party. Sinn Fein’s victory
in the by-election acted as a catalyst for the rapid spread of the movement
throughout Longford in the latter half of 1917. In this book, the author
discusses the political aspect of the revolution by examining the importance
of administrative charges as Sinn Fein and Dail Eireann usurped the functions
of the courts and local government, and then goes on to describe the military
side of the revolution. A narrative account of the War of Independence
and Civil War in Longford is followed by a personal profile of the Volunteers
and Cumann na mBan respectively, outlining their activities at various
stages of the independence campaign, and examining their motivation for
joining these organizations and engaging in violent activity.
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Illustrated Dictionary of Irish History
edited by Seamas Mac Annaidh
The Irish people have a great sense of national identity
drawn from a history that mixes oppression and emancipation. This book
offers a complete A to Z journey through a turbulent past that has shaped
the country today. It provides a comprehensive background to, and a deeper
understanding of, a great many characters and events. From the mythology
of Fionn mac Cumhail and the Giant’s Causeway to the legendary modern
political figures of de Valera and Collins; from the barren limestone
cliffs of the Aran Islands to the vibrant city life of Dublin: every aspect
of Irish history is covered in these extensively cross-referenced entries.
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From Sanatorium to Hospital: A Social
and Medical Account of Peamount 1912-1917 by T. M. Healy
For over a hundred years, from the Great Famine to the
1950s, tuberculosis, called the White Plague, was the scourge of Irish
society. It was particularly tragic in that it frequently attacked young
adults, especially young women. Peamount Sanatorium was founded in 1912.
It was a key part of the Women’s National Health Association’s campaign
against the disease, led by the redoubtable Lady Aberdeen, wife of the
Lord Lieutenant. Since then Peamount has looked after thousands of patients
suffering from tuberculosis of the lung. From the 1960s the outlook on
tuberculosis has greatly improved. Nowadays other diseases of the chest
continue to be treated in Peamount. There is also a Mental Handicap Unit
and two units for the permanently disabled of all ages. The author worked
as a pathologist in Peamount for nearly fifty years before his retirement
in 1998. He was also a lecturer in Pathology in University College Dublin
from 1963 to 1992.
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Breaking New Ground: Fifty Years
of Change in Northern Ireland Agriculture 1952 - 2002 by Derek Alexander
and Michael Drake
The 1950s saw the beginning of a rural revolution in
the north of Ireland, as farmers took stock after the war and began to
use modern methods, moving away from centuries-old practices. The years
since have seen accelerating change - professional training, entry into
the EEC in 1973, the introduction of milk quotas in 1984, an inexorably
declining rural population and the catastrophic crises of BSA and foot-and-mouth
disease. In this informative, well-illustrated account, the authors chart
the highs and lows of an industry and a way of life that has seen extraordinary
change in the period from 1952 to 2002.
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Dancer by Colum McCann
From the documented facts of a real life, the acclaimed
Irish writer Colum McCann has created an extraordinary work of fiction.
This history of life gets under the skin of its hero, and into his head,
under the skin of the people around him, into the heart of the era he
came to represent, into the truth of what it means to dance. It is ambitious.
It is also incredibly controlled, passionate and extravagant - perfectly
matched in style to the personality of its central character, the dancer
Rudolf Nureyev.
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This is Not A Novel by Jennifer Johnston
Johnny, an outstanding young swimmer, went missing nearly
thirty years ago: drowned, or so everyone except his sister Imogen, the
narrator of Jennifer Johnston’s beguiling new novel, believes. The event
literally leave Imogen speechless, for how could this happen? Johnny,
encourage, pushed even, from a child by his father, could have made the
Olympic team, couldn’t he? In the company of his friend Bruno, the handsome
young German tutor, Imogen has seen him slicing through the water, staying
out for two hours before racing back gleaming. She has sailed with the
two young men out across the bay that lies beneath the old stone house
Great Grandfather bought at the beginning of the century. In this wonderfully
written novel, the author tells of the year that changed their lives forever.
The sheer brilliance of her storytelling and the beauty of her prose show
her to be the mistress of her craft: able to cross generations with consummate
skill - for tragic echoes connect the narrator with the Great War and
Dublin in the 1920s. Letters, memoirs, fragments, poetry and music imbue
the novel with a richness that all but overwhelms the reader.
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The Broken Cedar by Martin Malone
The Enclave; home to Lebanon’s dispossessed. Khalil has
made his life in this buffer zone on the Israeli-Lebanon border, catering
to the needs of UN troops. His small electrical shop has served him and
his family well. But there is another matter which troubles his conscience:
the brutal lynching fifteen years ago of two UN peacekeepers, one Irish,
one American, to which he was an unwilling party. And a young Irishman
walks into his shop, the murdered man’s son. Exploring in intimate and
compelling detail the effects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on everyday
life, this compelling novel turns on one man’s terrible crisis of conscience
as he attempts to reconcile past actions and present consequences.
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Star of the Sea by Joseph O’Connor
In the bitter winter of 1847, from an Ireland torn by
injustice and natural disaster, the ‘Star of the Sea’ sets sail for New
York. On board are hundreds of fleeing refugees, some brimming with optimism,
many more desperate. Among them are a maidservant with a devastating secret,
bankrupt Lord Merridith and his wife and children, an aspiring novelist,
a maker of revolutionary ballads, all braving the Atlantic in search of
a new home. Each is connected more deeply than they can possibly know.
But a camoflauged killer is stalking the decks, hungry for the vengeance
that will bring absolution. The twenty-six-day journey will see many lives
end, other begin afresh. Passionate loves are tenderly recalled, ducked
responsibilities regretted too late; profound relationships shockingly
unearthed where once it seemed there were none. In a spellbinding story
of tragedy and mercy, love and healing, the further the ship sails towards
the Promised Land, the more her passengers seem moored to a past which
will never let them go. A novel as urgently contemporary in its preoccupations
as it is historically revealing, this gripping and compassionate tale
builds with the pace of a thriller to an unforgettable conclusion.
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The Big Snow by David Park
Northern Ireland, 1963. In a house with windows flung
defiantly wide, a wife dies before her husband can make his confession.
Elsewhere, an old woman searches desperately for a wedding dress in her
dream of love. And in the very heart of this city, the purity of snow
is tainted by the murder of a young woman, leaving one man in a race against
time - to find the murderer before the snow melts. This novel is the story
of a time muffled and made claustrophobic by unprecedented snow falls.
Suddenly shaken free from the normal patterns of their lives by the extremity
of the weather, the people fine their intimate desires thrown into sharp
relief. The author shows this flawed slice of humanity somehow glorious.
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Right on Time by Pauline McLynn
Every second counts for private investigator Leo Street
on her latest case. She must find a missing teenager in the drug-fuelled
streets of Dublin before it’s too late. But with a watch that’s stopped
and a biological clock that’s taken over, it’s not going to be easy. Leo’s
irrepressible sidekick Ciara, her mischievous mutt No.4, and Ciara’s gorgeous
twin brother Ronan, lend a helping hand. But can they track down the missing
girl and save the day, or will a case of bad timing put all their lives
at risk? Pauline McLynn, who shot to fame playing Mrs. Doyle in ‘Father
Ted’, has crafted a hilarious follow-up to her bestsellers, Something
for the Weekend and Better Than a Rest.
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Following the Wake by Gemma O’Connor
The fallout from Evangeline Walter’s murder touched everyone
who knew her, as if her venom had insiduously leached into their lives
and poisoned their happiness. Even her cousin, Murray McGraw, who had
a genuine affection for her, was not immune, and neither was Smiler O’Dowd,
who loved her. But of all those who had contact with her, none suffered
more than the wife and son of VJ Sweeney, who drowned at sea before he
could be charged with her killing. Was it all too neat? Ten years on,
the sense of unfinished business continues to linger, and Gil Sweeney
has become obsessed with finding out what really happened when he was
a little boy of only eight years old.
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All the People All the Time by Declan
Lynch
Victory Bartley is on the edge. Publicly humiliated by
criticism of his son’s ailing TV show, he has had enough. Once a successful
showband manager in Ireland, he is now a sad resentful alcoholic. He bears
most of this resentment towards the rock star Richie Earls, one of Ireland’s
rock and roll elite who has it all - everything Victor wants. But things
are about to change. As the events of one tragic, drug-fuelled night at
Richie’s south Dublin mansion take their toll, the tables are turned.
Suddenly, Victor has the one thing that Richie wants This is murder and
music mayhem with a twist from a new Irish talent.
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Mohammed Maguire by Colin Bateman
Here come the Marines destroying a terrorist training
camp in the Libyan Desert, along with both the parents of a ten-year old
boy, Mohammed Maguire. Brought back to Ireland, the land of his mother’s
birth, young Mohammed is treated as a public relations commodity by both
sides of an argument that he doesn’t understand - but which he can see
with the clear eyes of a child. Dark and irreverent, this novel is a wickedly
funny fable for our troubled times.
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Still Waters Run Deep by Nancy Ross
A scandal has broken out - the secret mistress of Robert
Macauley, MP, has just sold her diary to the newspapers. He may have to
resign. Bridget, Macauley’s daughter, sets off for Poudings, the family
home. Her only thought is to be with her mother Duibhne in this crisis.
But the political scandal is just the tip of an iceberg. Other secrets
are lurking thatwill rock the family to the core. Delphine Blake, reporter
on ‘the Daily Graphic’, stumbles upon an even more startling story - the
truth about the cool, beautiful Duibhne Macauley - or Lady Duibhne Shannon
as she wasformerly known. As Duibhne’s extraordinary story unfolds, the
reader learns that her serenity is like the polished, unruffled surface
of a lake,hiding powerful currents and sinister secrets in its depth.
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Class Act by Alison Norrington
Geri’s life is in a bit of a rut. In its pre-marital
state it was lived with passion, attitude and alcohol. Now, post-pregnancy
and post-separation, it needs a good kick-start. But, oh to be her best
friend Sinead Refined, relaxed, high-flying Sinead riding the corporate
roller-coaster in sunny Spain well, actually, insecure, lonely and bored
Sinead crawling from one disastrous relationship to another. Geri and
Sinead are so busy trying to keep the lid on their own emotions, each
fails to notice how the other has gone rather quiet and distant. But Geri
is about to restart her life
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A Brush With Love by Tara Heavey
Legal secretary Fern can’t quite believe her luck when
posh barrister James Carver takes a shine to her. With her mahogany brown
hair - ‘I blend in with the office furniture’ - and green eyes, she doesn’t
feel in any way special. After all, a typing speed of 60 wpm and a dream
of being an artist hardly make her a catch. Flattered and thrilled at
the attention, Fern is smitten, even when James turns out to have some
very strange habits When will Fern see that he is a total rat? When she
gets fired - for sleeping with a judge - or when she suspects he is seeing
someone else? With her family breaking apart and her love life in disarray,
Fern refuses to see the truth about James - or about herself, and why
she’s running away from a man who really loves her
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My Lover’s Lover by Maggie O’Farrell
When Lily moves into Marcus’s apartment, she is intrigued
by signs of his recently departed ex-lover. A single dress left hanging
in the wardrobe, a mysterious mark on the wall, the lingering odour of
jasmine. Who was this woman? And what exactly were the circumstances of
her sudden disappearance? It doesn’t take long for Lily’s curiosity to
grow into an all-pervading obsession. This fine literary novel is a gripping
exploration of the ambivalence at the heart of intimate relationships,
keenly observed and superbly imagined. A psychological drama with, at
its core, the timeless theme of love betrayed: shock, grief, and loss
spring from the pages with intensity.
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The White Road by John Connolly
In South Carolina, a young black man faces the death
penalty for the rape and murder of Marianne Larousse, daughter of one
of the wealthiest men in the state. It’s a case that nobody wants to touch,
a case with its roots in old evil, and old evil is private detective Charlie
Parker’s speciality. But Parker is about to enter a living nightmare,
a red dreamscape haunted by the murderous spectre of a hooded woman, by
a black car waiting for a passenger that never comes, and by the complicity
of both friends and enemies in the events surrounding Marianne Larousse’s
death. This is not a simple investigation. It is a descent into the abyss,
a confrontation with dark forces that threaten all that Parker holds dear:
his lover, his unborn child, even his soul. For in a prison cell far to
the north in Maine, the fanatical preacher Faulkner is about to take his
revenge on Charlie Parker, its instruments the very men that Parker is
hunting, and a strange, hunched creature that keeps its own secret buried
by a riverbank: the undiscovered killer, Cyrus Nairn. Soon, all of these
figures will face a final reckoning in southern swamps and northern forests,
in distant locations linked by a single thread, a place where the paths
of the living and the dead converge. A place known only as the White Road.
This is the fourth book in Dubliner John Connolly’s series, and was our
Fiction Book of the Month for January 2002.
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