The author, Simon Smith, is a filmmaker who has recorded stories from around the world, and that background is seen in the writing as he fills in little details and concentrates on the lives, likes and troubles of the main characters. Continue reading
With honours from the US, Britain and Israel, he is almost forgotten in Ireland, sixty years after he died. Continue reading
Hidden Cargoes is a substantive work of research and creative analysis that also reads like a gentle musing on life by a favourite relative. Continue reading
Though the shrine was built in the early twelfth century, Saint Manchan died in AD. 644. Contextual evidence allows the authors to point to possible reasons the saint’s life and work might be commemorated years later by such craftsmanship. Continue reading
Donal Ryan at his best. His central characters are four women of four different generations. Continue reading
Book Review by Frank O’Shea A GUEST AT THE FEAST. By Colm Tóibín. Picador 2022. 305 pp. $34.99 Colm Tóibín is the current Laureate for Irish Fiction, succeeding Sebastian Barry. As part of that role, he will be expected to deliver a number of public lectures; it is not clear whether this book is part … Continue reading
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McKinty’s The Island is a page-turner, and often quite chilling and surprising in the turns it takes. Continue reading
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Three new Irish or Irish Australian fictions reviewed by book-devourer, Frank O’Shea Continue reading
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One hundred years ago this month, Ireland found that it had to deal with former comrades fighting and killing each other. Continue reading
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Two new writers and one well established. Continue reading
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Tinteán 