April 2025 — Contemporary Irish Novelists

For such a small island, Ireland has produced a surprisingly large proportion of our Western canonical literature. Irish novelists (poets, playwrights, etc.) have been honored with prestigious prizes, consistently inhabit bestseller lists, and inspire award-winning movies and TV. Ireland’s rich history and strong traditions have provided fertile ground for political and social commentary, generational sagas, and fascinating folklore.

For this month’s blog, I want to suggest some of the most recent works from Ireland’s current cream of the crop. No matter what genre you prefer, you can find enough excellent choices to enrich your reading life until next year’s St. Patrick’s Day.

	*Into the Storm - Cecelia Ahern* "(Enya) leaves her husband, her son, and everything she knows to start a new life in remote rural Ireland. She is still haunted by that night in the rain. Can the stories of strangers and a land steeped in legend lay the ghosts of her past to rest?"
	The Drowned - John Banville "A richly atmospheric new mystery about a woman’s sudden disappearance in a small coastal town in Ireland, where nothing is as it seems."
	Old God's Time - Sebastian Barry "When two former colleagues turn up at his door with questions about a decades-old case, one which Tom never quite came to terms with, he finds himself pulled into the darkest currents of his past."
	*That Old Country Music - Kevin Barry* "A collection of short stories of rural Ireland in the classic Irish mode: full of love (and sex), melancholy and magic, bedecked in some of the most gorgeous prose being written today."
	Learned by Heart - Emma Donoghue "Tells the heartbreaking story of the tangled lives of two women whose intense, and unlikely, relationship will change them forever."
	Love - Roddy Doyle "As much a hymn to the Dublin of old as a delightfully comic yet moving portrait of what it means to try to put into words the many forms that love can take."
	The Hunter - Tana French "A nuanced, atmospheric tale that explores what we’ll do for our loved ones, what we’ll do for revenge, and what we sacrifice when the two collide."
	The End of the World is a Cul De Sac - Louise Kennedy "The political is intertwined with the personal, as Louise Kennedy reveals how ordinary lives can get caught up in a wider, national drama."
	Prophet Song - Paul Lynch "A devastating vision of a country at war and a deeply human portrait of a mother’s fight to hold her family together."
	The Colony - Audrey Magee "An expertly woven portrait of character and place, a stirring investigation into a yearning to find one's way, and an unflinchingly political critique of the long, seething cost of imperialism."
	Safe and Sound - Laura McHugh "After their cousin vanished from their home while they were sleeping, two sisters set out to learn the truth behind what happened—even if it puts their own lives in danger..."
	The Bee String - Paul Murray "Tour de force about family, fortune, and the struggle to be a good person when the world is falling apart."
	Life Sentences - Billy O'Callaghan "Spanning more than a century, Billy O’Callaghan’s weaves together the journey of an Irish family determined against all odds to be free."
	Caledonian Road - Andrew O'Hagan "A biting portrait of British class, politics, and money told through five interconnected families and their rising―and declining―fortunes."
	*Intermezzo - Sally Rooney* "For two grieving brothers and the people they love, this is a chance to find out how much one life might hold inside itself without breaking."
	Long Island - Colm Tóibín "A gorgeous story of a woman alone in a marriage and the deepest bonds she rekindles on her return to the place and people she left behind, to ways of living and loving she thought she’d lost."

Summaries adapted from publisher marketing materials

March's Featured Review

The Witch Elm - Tana French

Hop on the Holds List

Never Flinch – Stephen King

The Tenant – Freida McFadden

Parents Weekend – Alex Finlay

Don’t Let Him In – Lisa Jewell

Atmosphere: A Love Story – Taylor Jenkins Reid

Quote of the Month:

"You see things; and you say, 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say, 'Why not?'" - George Bernard Shaw

Bookish News and Links:

Want personalized recommendations? Fill out a questionnaire to get a customized list sent directly to your email

Love Lists? Try these:

Here is a list from UCD Dublin that includes other genres and books written in Irish.

The Irish Times produced this list for fans of Sally Rooney.

How about some classic Irish authors? Irish Central gives some short summaries of the most famous works.

Adaptation News: Upcoming movies and shows based on books:

The Amateur, based on the book by Robert Littel and starring Rami Malek and Laurence Fishburne will arrive in theaters on April 11.

On April 17, Netflix will air a series based on Jodi Thomas' Ransom Canyon.

Recent Reads

I have recently finished reading North Woods by Daniel Mason and The Puzzle Box by Danielle Trussoni. I also just finished listening to The Next Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine.

I am currently reading Island Rule by Katie M. Flynn and Ink Ribbon Red by Alex Pavesi. I am also listening to the audiobook of All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker.

Have any others you would nominate for my list? Let me know: jnmegan@gpl.

Until next time: Be safe, be well, and be well-read!

Joelle

So, who am I, anyway? I am a resident of West Groton, with a husband, 3 children in college (and one at GDRHS) and a Samoyed that keeps my vacuum well-employed. I am currently working part time at the Groton Public Library and writing monthly reviews for Bookllist Magazine. In a former life, I was a Director of PR/Marketing at a high-tech consulting firm. My BA is in Psychology, but most of my time was spent in college earning a Concentration on the Novel. That is all to say that I make no claims at being an expert of any kind and my thoughts, opinions and mistakes are solely my own. I am just a person whose passion for books has continued to grow from the moment I was first able to grip and gnaw on them. I have been devouring them ever since.

Apr 01, 2025 / Joelle M Egan