Recommended Reading: Contemporary Irish Fiction
Ireland, that gorgeous emerald isle, has been a hotbed of great writers and excellent fiction for hundreds of years. For your reading enjoyment, here is a list of notable novels from contemporary Irish writers. Why not enjoy one of these great Irish novels while sipping a green beer? It doesn’t need to be St. Patrick’s Day!
Anybody Out There? by Marian Keyes
International bestseller Marian Keyes returns with another quirky, heartwarming story of the Walsh sisters (from Angels) in this 2007 novel. Anna Walsh has returned to her family home in the Dublin suburbs to recuperate from a horrendous car accident that has left her with multiple fractures and a disfiguring scar across her face. Desperate to go back to New York and resume her normal life, she soon packs up her bags and returns to her job in beauty PR for punk cosmetics brand Candy Grrrl. Romantic turmoil and kooky family antics ensue.
Undertow by John Deane
In this beautifully written, stylish novel the sea – and the character’s rich response to it - is one of the most intriguing features. The novel switches back and forth between Ireland’s Achill Island in 1951-1952 and Achill in 1996-1997, but chronology and plot are less important than the detailed portrayal of individual feelings. This magical novel gradually brings together individual lives in parallel stories.
A Wild People by Hugh Leonard
Set in Dublin in the world of movers and shakers, The Wild People charts film buff T.J. Quill’s affair with the infuriating and enigmatic Josie. The sort of novel that’s easy to devour in one sitting, A Wild People features fast-moving dialogue, hilarious scenarios and sensitive characterizations.
The Mermaids Singing by Lisa Carey
Great for adults and teens! This impressive first novel spans three generations of women and two continents while addressing complex issues related to mother-daughter relationships and cultural identity. In the 1950s, teenage Cliona leaves her home, a small island on the west coast of Ireland called Inis Muruch (the “Island of Mermaids”), and emigrates to America where, while planning to study to be a nurse, she works as a maid for a Boston family. Soon enough, an unwanted pregnancy stops her career plans. Grace, Cliona's daughter, grows up in America but returns to the island as a teenager, experiencing as much trauma in arriving on the isle as her mother did in leaving it. The story then follows the path of Grainne, Grace’s daughter, in this gripping multi-generational novel.
Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle
This novel make a real splash when it was released in 1993, so if you haven’t read it, maybe now’s the time! In this Booker Prize-winning novel, an Irish lad named Paddy rampages through the streets of Barrytown with a pack of like-minded hooligans, playing cowboys and Indians, etching their names in wet concrete, and setting fires. Roddy Doyle masterfully captures the sensations and speech patterns of preadolescents with incredible skill. Paddy Clarke and his friends are not bad boys; they're just a little bit restless. All they want is for something--anything--to happen. Be part of Paddy’s day-to-day life as he navigates his parents’ crumbling relationship, schoolyard antics and life in general.
This article was cited from Suite 101. It was written by Christy Goerzen and published on Jun 1, 2010. To read the full article click here.
