I know I said I wasn’t going to get involved in any reading challenges this year but this is March (the month connected to Ireland and all things Irish)……and there is an actual challenge called Reading Ireland Month ☘️
Just by chance in amongst my reads these past few weeks were some by female Irish authors….a young ‘un and an older one (now sadly no longer with us) The well established Maeve Binchy and the now becoming very well established Claire Keegan – so when I was made aware of Reading Ireland I picked out a few more authors from my TBR list that I knew would fit the bill…..and my library happened to have available😊
- So late in the day – Claire Keegan 2023.
Three previously published very short stories. All different, could be described as ‘dark’, certainly not pleasant.
So late in the day:- Poor man, got what was coming to him
A long and painful death:– Some people have a knack of taking the pleasure out of everything.
Antarctica:- What you want is not always what you get
- Foster – Claire Keegan 2010.
A short story about life in rural Ireland with a lot to say in very few words.
The little girl goes to stay with what is implied to be foster parents but what I actually thought was her aunt but maybe I misunderstood……a place where life is so very different to what it is like at home. Then the new baby is born and it’s time to go home – where life and the attitudes of her parents are so very different. Has a ‘strange’ ending that is open to individual reader’s interpretation/imagination
- This year it will be different – Maeve Binchy 2008.
Short stories with Christmas (and relationships) as the common theme.
Christmas…..that time of the year when people are supposed to be on their best behaviour and things just have to be ‘perfect’ but we know life isn’t like that…….and that’s just what’s covered in these very readable and relatable stories.
They include the problems of Grannies coming to visit – mothers deciding they’ve had enough and this year it will be different – overseas visitors wondering what Christmas will be like in another country – lovers thinking about each other while separated, then reaching slightly different decisions about their future – plus others that will make you feel happy….and sad
- The Searcher – Tana French 2020.
Cal Hooper #1
American ex police officer Cal Hooper hoping to get away from a previous life has bought a run down cottage in a small village in Ireland. Getting to know the community but remain anonymous has been a hard task, then a young boy turns up asking for help and much to his better judgement he agrees to look for a missing brother.
Easy to read, first half flowed along nicely……then after a twist in the storyline I sort of lost interest. The mystery was solved in the end – after we learn many of the secrets of locals plus the boy isn’t what you think he is
- The Transatlantic Book Club – Felicity Hayes – McCoy 2019.
(I’d actually had my eye on another of this author’s books but saw this and thought the idea of an ‘international’ book club rather novel (yes I know 😊) so it came home with me.)
Eager to cheer up her recently widowed gran, Cassie Fitzgerald, visiting from Canada, persuades Lissbeg Library to set up a Skype book club, linking readers on Ireland’s Finfarran Peninsula with the US town of Resolve, home to generations of Finfarran emigrants.
A fun easy read – part the Finfarran Peninsula series – characters and backgrounds were (re)introduced slowly so it wasn’t difficult to get acquainted with everyone. The Skype sessions were more visual general get togethers with hello’s and past differences making appearances plus the choice of book to be read caused problems. A little romance was added….. well, a long distance ‘will he be there on screen tonight’ does he feel the same as me even though we’re an ocean apart.
All’s well in the end…..life in the little Irish town settles down again
*********.
And because life has got in the way a bit I’ve only just begun to read this one…..
The Country Girls – Edna O’Brien 1960.
Debut novel turned into a series
Kate and Baba are friends, live in the same village in entirely different environments, go to the same school, need each other’s company but treat each other differently……being short in length it’s not going to take me too long to finish……I’m hoping Baba will stop being a bully
Click the link below to see what others have been reading
What’s on your Bookshelf
(To comment please click on post title and scroll down)
Still Waters 