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IRISH WRITING HAS lots of exciting stuff in store for 2022, with both debut novelists and longtime favourites set to publish some fantastic work.
Here are our top picks for fiction to look out for next year – keep an eye out for our upcoming non-fiction roundup.
Breaking Point by Edel Coffey
You’ll no doubt have read work by Coffey, an Irish journalist and broadcaster, or heard her excellent book reviews on RTÉ’s Arena over the years. This is a writer who knows writing, so hopes are high for her debut novel. The plot is a really topical one too – Susannah, a doctor, researcher, and professor, has a busy home life. She doesn’t realise she’s at breaking point until she leaves her young daughter in the car on a hot day, with tragic results.
The Raptures by Jan Carson
This fantastic novel centres on the absorbing story of young Hannah, a teenager who lives in a small community in Belfast. As other teenagers in her class start dying from a mysterious disease, Hannah finds herself in a very unusual position, as the only one who seems to be immune. Covering topics like religion, family, childhood and belief with a sharp eye and a magic touch, this book should be a big hit next year.
The Letter Home by Rachael English
The writer and Morning Ireland broadcaster writes a “heartbreaking” novel that moves between west of Ireland and Boston. It tells the story of Jessie Daly, who travels home to Ireland’s west coast and helps an old friend researching what happened in the area during the 1840s Famine. They are drawn to the story of a brave young mother called Bridget Moloney, and Jessie becomes determined to find out what happened to Bridget and her daughter, Norah. On the other side of the Atlantic, Kaitlin Wilson is researching her family tree and the two find themselves connected. English once again draws on Ireland’s past to explore the experiences of families in all their emotional intensity.
Cruel Deeds by Catherine Kirwan
Solicitor Catherine Kirwan mines from the world of law with this story about a successful lawyer who is found murdered, and the colleague who gets drawn into her life. It turns out that the dead solicitor has secrets – and she wasn’t the only one at the firm with something to hide.
Buried Angels by Patricia Gibney
Another one for crime fans. Detective Lottie Parker (a regular in Gibney’s books) is called to investigate when a woman named Faye Baker discovers a child’s skull behind the walls of her new home. The house has been owned for years by the family of Faye’s boyfriend Jeff, so when Jeff starts acting suspiciously, Lottie wonders what he might be hiding…
We Were Young by Niamh Campbell
Campbell’s debut novel was an excellent look at flawed relationships. In her follow-up she focuses on a man named Cormac. Single and about to turn 40, he finds his life changed when he meets Caroline – and at the same time, he has to take responsibility for his brother, who is in the midst of a midlife crisis. Expect a sharp eye turned to the modern relationship in this novel.
Again, Rachel by Marian Keyes
What did we do to deserve a sequel to Rachel’s Holiday? We pick up again with Rachel Walsh at aged 50, decades on from when we first met her as she went through rehab in her 20s. It’ll be really interesting to see how Keyes presents us with Rachel’s new life – she’s gone from student to teacher in the addiction world – and explores the experiences of women in their 50s, an area ripe for writing about.
Dance Move by Wendy Erskine
One of the island’s best short story writers, Belfast writer Erskine is back with her second collection. She’s able to get herself into the mind of people as they wrestle with this thing called life, but with a counter-culture attitude. Able to buoy you up in one moment and devastate you the next, you’re in the hands of a serious talent here.
They All Lied by Louise Phillips
Nadine Fitzmaurice’s life is turned upside-down when she gets a call from her 18-year-old daughter, Becca, telling her she’s killed someone and is being held hostage. Nadine is soon dragged into the criminal underworld of organised crime, being forced to repay a debt in order to gain Becca’s freedom. An intriguing premise from Phillips, who is the author of five bestselling psychological crime thrillers.
The Truth will Out by Rosemary Hennigan
This debut novel is described as “Black Swan meets Sweet Sorrow”, and brings us the character Dara Gaffney, a young actor who gets a leading role in the revival of a hugely successful yet controversial play. The play is based on an unsolved real-life murder, and there are claims the playwright had an ulterior motive when she penned it. As opening night draws closer, the cast find it harder and harder to separate themselves from the characters. Hennigan is a former TCD student and solicitor who has also worked in human rights advocacy – she was shortlisted for the Benedict Kiely Short Story Competition and longlisted for the Colm Toibin Short Story Competition.
Duffy and Son by Damien Owens
Damien Owens is the author of five novels, and the creator and writer of Trivia, a television comedy/drama which ran for two series on RTÉ. So expect plenty of wry humour in his latest novel, which is about Eugene Duffy, who was left by his wife to raise two teenage children. They are now grown up and as his 70th and his son’s 40th approach, Eugene decides it’s time for drastic measures and throws himself into the task of finding his son a wife. Of course, things don’t go to plan.
These Days by Lucy Caldwell
Another excellent short story writer, particularly good at looking into the lives of women and girls, Caldwell’s first novel in nearly a decade follows the lives of two sisters, Emma and Audrey, in Belfast during WWII. Caldwell wrote this novel about the Belfast Blitz while in lockdown and says the characters feel “more real to me than any other characters I’ve written”.
Homesickness by Colin Barrett
The author of Young Skins and winner of the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature returns with a collection of short stories. They’re set in various locations – rural County Mayo, Toronto – and include tales of outcasts and misfits. Another excellent short story writer, Barrett mines rural Ireland for absurdity and truth.
Trespasses by Louise Kennedy
Louise Kennedy’s debut collection of short stories was critically lauded and introduced a major new Irish voice – and hot on the book’s heels comes her debut novel. This is set in a small town in the north of Ireland and is about an affair between Cushla and Michael, a relationship that threatens to destroy them both.
The Quiet Whispers Never Stop by Olivia Fitzsimons
This novel is also set in Northern Ireland, in the 1980s and 1990s, and is written by a Co Down native. It’s about Nuala Malin, who is struggling with her life – and then finds unexpected refuge with a 17-year-old boy. When she’s subsequently given a chance to leave the north, she does. That was in 1982 – fast forward to 1994, and her daughter Sam Malin plans her own escape.
What Eden Did Next by Sheila O’Flanagan
O’Flanagan is a longtime bestselling author, who is hugely prolific – she’s written over 30 novels. In this latest one, we meet Eden, who has already suffered the unexpected loss of her husband Andy. She has their daughter and his family to support her – but when she meets someone knew, Andy’s mother stands in the way, and the entire family could suffer.
The Wedding Party by Cathy Kelly
Another bestselling commercial fiction author, Kelly has sold millions of books. Her latest is about four sisters who return home for their parents’ wedding, at the Hotel Sorrento where they all grew up. For the first time in 15 years, the sisters are back together – and it doesn’t take long for long-buried secrets to surface…
The Deadwood Encore, by Kathleen Murray
This debut novel is about Frank Walsh, the seventh son of a seventh son, who hasn’t quite inherited his late father’s legendary healing power. He already feels adrift in Carlow when his twin, Bernie, confides something to him that casts a shadow over how he perceives his place in the world… and then he discovers that his father had been keeping secrets of his own. Kathleen Murray has been published in The Stinging Fly, The Moth, Dublin Review, Prairie Schooner and various anthologies, and this is her first novel.
None of This Is Serious by Catherine Prasifka
Another debut novel, this time for fans of Naoise Dolan and Sally Rooney. Prasifka focuses her novel on Sophie, a young woman leaving college who’s trying to figure out what’s going on in her love life and deal with feeling overshadowed by her sister. There’s also an unexpected worldwide event that takes place, which makes her protagonist really question her trajectory in life. This is a book that really shows how communication can be helped by social media, but very much hindered by it too.
The Choice
Philly McMahon and Niall Kelly (deputy editor of our sister site The42.ie) write a work of fiction inspired by Philly’s memoir The Choice. Aimed at people aged 12+, this is described as “a moving and inspirational story of family, fate and the decisions that shape our lives”. It’s about two brothers growing up in the shadows of Ballymun flats who are on very different paths: Philly and John. The book explores whether their futures were set in stone, or if they reflected the choices they made in life.
Seven Steeples by Sara Baume
Fans of artist and writer Sara Baume’s work have been salivating at the thought of a new work of fiction from her. Her latest is described as “a poised yet passionate novel about the transformation of love and the self over the years”. It tells the story of Bell and Sigh, two artists living at the bottom of a mountain.
The Geometer Lobachevsky by Adrian Duncan
In The Geometer Lobachevsky (his fourth book in four years) Duncan brings back to the early 1950s. Soviet geometer (mathematician) Nikolai Lobachevsky is working with Bord na Móna with a land survey, but during his visit he receives a letter from the MGB ordering him home to Leningrad for ‘a special appointment’. Immediately suspicious, he goes into hiding on a small island in the Shannon Estuary.
Idol by Louise O’Neill
Cork author O’Neill’s latest work of fiction is her third aimed at adults, and its premise is bang up to date – it’s about an influencer called Samantha Miller who writes an essay about her sexual awakening when she was a teenager. But then her friend gets in touch with memories that are much darker than Samantha’s. The time is ripe to really look at the world of celebrity influencers, and O’Neill is well equipped to examine it with a feminist lens.
The Last to Disappear by Jo Spain
When Alex Evans is informed that his sister’s body has been pulled from an icy lake in Northern Lapland, he assumes his sister accidentally drowned. But when he goes to the place where she died, the investigating detective tells him that she thinks there’s more to Vicky’s case than meets the eye. As the two form an unlikely alliance, Alex also begins to suspect the small town where his sister lived and died is harbouring secrets.
The Belladonna Maze by Sinéad Crowley
Fans of RTÉ arts reporter Crowley’s writing will know she pens gripping crime novels. In her latest, Crowley writes about a home called Hollowpark in the west of Ireland (home to the Belladonna Maze of the title, where a young girl once disappeared). Her protagonist is Grace, who moves to Hollowpark to work as a nanny for Skye FitzMahon. The mysterious past of Hollowpark soon becomes an obsession for Grace – and then she starts seeing apparitions…
The Horse of Selene by Juanita Casey
This rediscovered novel was written in just six weeks during the summer of 1964 while Casey camped on Achill Island. Tramp Press say that she “was a central figure in the rural and coastal ex-patriot bohemian scene”, and the novel is described as the lost connection between JM Synge and Kevin Barry.
Days of Old (Le Tiers Temps) by Maylis Besseris, translated by Clíona Ní Ríordáin
This novel by Maylis Besserie shows us Samuel Beckett at the end of his life in 1989, living in the Le Tiers-Temps retirement home. The home is “peopled with strange, unhinged individuals, waiting for the end of days”. Days of Old won the “Goncourt du premier roman”, the French literary prize for first time novelists, just before the country went into lockdown.
Edith by Martina Devlin
Devlin is an award-winning columnist for the Irish Independent and podcaster for Dublin City of Literature #CityofBooks. Her latest novel is based on the life of Edith Somerville of ‘Somerville and Ross’ fame. This novel is set during Irish Independence 1921–22, when Somerville finds herself at a crossroads and struggling to keep her family home, Drishane House in West Cork, while others are burned out.
Headwreck by Emer Marin
This is both a stand-alone work and continuation of The Cruelty Men, Martin’s earlier fictionalised epic intergenerational family saga, from 1970 to the present day. The novel follows the story of the O’Conaills, an Irish-speaking family who had moved from Kerry to the Meath Gaeltacht, and the disasters that ensue for their children in Irish institutions.
There’s Been a Little Incident by Alice Ryan
Ryan is the daughter of the late Irish Times literary editor Caroline Walsh and writer James Ryan. After her mother died tragically 10 years ago, Ryan sought solace in writing, and this book tells the story of a woman who goes missing and the impact it has on her family.
Legal fees are incredibly high for very little, €120 for a solr to stand up on free legal aid to say we plea guilty Judge to a public order charge, it should be 3 chances of free legal aid after that u sail your own boat, enough of the molly coddling of thugs by the state
True, but the cost of legal services itself badly needs to be addressed – this profession has been protected for far far too long.
Think of the exorbitant costs of the tribunals and how much more benefit society would have gained if the same money had been invested in health or education.
Don’t get me wrong, I think accountability is important and it is right and proper that tribunals take place, but the cartel that is the legal profession has milked this to the last.
@Dave Bowery A solicitor doesn’t just meet a free legal aid client on the day of court, stand up for 30 seconds and collect their fee. What about the consultation before hand in the solicitors office? That has to be factored in. Go to an accountant and ask them how much they charge per hour. Professional services are high in general, not just solicitor fees
Colin, as someone that has been in court for being pissed (not one of my finer moments) I can tell that is exactly what they do.
*you
Agree totally dave every day that these indviduals are allowed to police themselves is another blow for democracy the levels of corruption which takes place in the courts is truly frightening and every one of us at some point get burned by them , this level of criminality in this country has to stop but i fear this goverment is not part of the solution but part of the problem .
Pay them what they pay nurses. Sound fair?
What is wrong with Irish democracy when politicians, have to get outside help to explain the obvious!
Root and branch reforms are badly needed.
If people do not believe corruption exists at african levels in our courts go to the high court on monday 14 court case no 201039sp.
The politicians want things as they are, that’s why they have never reformed or just look like they’ve changed something and take pittance cuts in their pay. They all may jump up and down in front of you, but in the Dail bar they wink and nod at each other. This country is a Basket case, If you want real reforms? Then have a revolution, otherwise nothing will change and thank the Troika for pointing at the obvious!
One thing that always amazed me as I drove up into Dublin as was made to make room for the flashing blue lights of a convoy of a prison escort was why couldn’t the judge drive to the prison to hold court instead of the prisoner being transported to Dublin at large expense?
Most court hearings will not result in a custodial sentence.
That’s what Cloverhill iis for.
I’m not 100% on this, but if I’m not mistaken the state spent half a billion on lawyers in 2011. Half a billion! WTF?
With reports this week of a cut of a 1,000 guards for a year to save ?25 million you would have to wonder what kind of a basket case country we live in.
The elite always look after themselves.
Solicitors,bankers,politicians and developers are the golden circle of this country,there not going to upset the apple cart to much with each other
And doctors. This country is a haven for the rich.
Just so you know, not every doctor in the hospital is a consultant. There are non consultant hospital doctors. Who earn a lot less and work long unpaid hours.
Ah but of course, that is jealousy of the cozy nine to five guys or those on the dole.
Are you a dr? All drs are paid extortionate salaries. Consultants pay is just mental altogether. They should bring salaries way down for drs and consultants. That way we can pay for better services for our sick people.
And how is it jealousy if someone has a 9 to 5 job if drs hours are much longer. Surely drs should be the jealous ones as there hours are soooo much longer.
There’s probably a reason you didn’t become a doctor, it’s because you have to be intelligent and work hard, the financial rewards are representative to there skill sets
Lowering yourself to insults you silly individual. I chose not to be a doctor. Good money but hours are terrible and no social life.
Bad wording by myself, It wasn’t meant as an insult. It’s the same reason I am not a doctor, if it was easy to become one, there wouldn’t be a shortage of doctors. I don’t agree with sentiments that doctors are over paid, the complexities of surgery and work that goes into becoming a doctor deserves the financial reward. The same goes to the frontline doctors in a&e, gp’s and nurses. they are well paid but not over paid. We take our health system for granted far to often.
@Phil If you work hard for something and invest for it, it is normal that you seek the financial reward that comes with it. If you wish to remain in your own job forever and not want to better yourself, then you deserve your circumstances. And you say yes the doctor work hours are long and lacking social lives. Does that mean you agree that long work hours should go unpaid? Just because we work for the government it doesn’t mean we should not be entitled to labour rights. But I guess since you want to lynch all doctors, why not chain their legs and make them work for free, you’d like that for sure
…you are wrong: check out http://www.solvemylegal.com where ordinary solicitors are quite happy to provide transparency on legal fees .. first of its kind in Ireland
One thing is for sure. Leaving aside the excessively high hourly rates for lawyers, now being severely driven down by the Taxing Masters of the High Court, the still archaic procedures of the Courts and of Tribunals have been the largest variable in the grossly excessive level of legal costs charged to people, businesses and to the tax payer of Ireland.
I would defend however the ordinary Joe Bloggs solicitor and barrister who do not work in the big law firms or in the upper ranks of the Law Library. The fruits of the practice of law are not evenly spread and the vast majority of lawyers now struggle, just like most of the rest of us, to survive. As with the rest of society solicitors firms are going out of practice because they can’t meet insurance and other overhead and reduced dead for services. Barristers are leaving the Law Library for the commercial sector and this is as it should be. No sector in society should be immune from market forces.
I will cause controversy with this observation but very few lawyers in private practice, likely none at all, have the pensions and other benefits enjoyed by the upper echelons of the public sector and trades union. Getting a judicial appointment is now the real plum.
As for the State tendering for legal services, most law firms are quoting below cost just to get the work and in he hope that it will lead to more work.
The gravy train is well and truly over for lawyers, except for the delicious clover of NAMA work, but that is a special skill and only the top legal talent in the country can do such rarified work. The rest scrabble to survive and in doing so are pretty much the same as most of the rest of us.
I will shed no tears though. Lawyers only have themselves to blame for the perceptions which have arisen and in all areas of life an entire occupation or profession will be judged by the standards of the fat cats at the top. That’s just life and many have lived well.
In fact, some lawyers lived so well in the past that they got deeply immersed in big property deals which have gone very badly wrong. Many are trying to hold on so as to avail of the new Personal Insolvency Bill when it is enacted. Bankruptcy looms for many of the former semi fat cats because they made so really bad investments.
Speaking personally, I’d welcome reform, what people mightn’t be aware of is that the current system places serious restraints on trade for practitioners into the bargain. And, as you say, it’s only very few who are making huge money from the law, the average solicitor/barrister is struggling to get by, just like everyone else.
“Getting a judicial appointment is now the real plum.”
Disagree on this, a moderately successful senior counsel or solicitor could make a lot more money.
@ voodoo, the reason for the attractiveness of the judicial appointment is not the current salary but the exceptional future benefits. That’s why barristers and some solicitors will sacrifice short term income for the pension benefits they could not possible fund out of current income.
It’s always commented on how many Td’s were teachers. However did ye notice how many are lawyers? And even more importantly its a very high percentage of ministers. Cozy cartel
That of course has nothing to do with the fact that a reasonable level of legal expertise would be helpful as a TD. That is if you want your TD’s to exercise their true legislative function?
I see no mention of the fact that we have fewer judges per head of population than almost any other country in the EU, leading to long, drawn-out proceedings, leading in turn to escalating legal costs.
No mention either of the fact that we are ranked 63rd in the world for enforceability of contracts: that’s disgraceful. We badly need better enforcement of court orders which ensure compliance with contracts; you would see a huge drop off in legal fees as a result. That will probably require some sort of cure for our society’s deeply ingrained infantilism, though.
“… notably the prohibition of the ‘solicitor’s lien’ (by which solicitors may hold a client’s file pending payment of fee).”
A moronic suggestion, it amounts to a licence to not pay for services rendered. Too many people in this country want something for nothing as is without making it worse.
Monopolies do not need to change in times of recession, unlike most other economic goods or services.
Its beyond a joke the stranglehold Kings Inns has on the profession. Its a throwback to a bygone era. That’s where the problem lies.
The entire legal system revolves around money.
In the hillbilly (sorry, District) Court, a donation to some charity is enough to have all charges , particularly those for motoring offences, dismissed. The judge makes him/herself part to a lie!
high legal costs are an economic barrier to justice. We have a public funded court system that can in practice, only be accessed through very privately controlled interest groups.
Rubbish. Simply not true. The courts are full of ordinary people being represented by lawyers who often aren’t being paid. Sick and tired of the constant lies from know-nothings eaten alive with bitterness and jealousy.
Lawyers fees are likely to double after the recent change to inheritance arrangements by the Law Society of Ireland. Why isn’t the Minister having the final say on this? The Law Society appear to have introduced this before the new reform bill was passed… This in effect risks undermining competitiveness measures under the new reform bill.
What are you on about? What do the Law Society have to do with amending either the Succession Act or the practice and procedure of the Probate Offices?
What needs to be done is inform people there are other ways of handling things. i.e. Mediation with the new bill coming in this year hopefully more people will realise that you don’t need to go through the financial hardship and stress of going through the courts. With most things Mediation can help and is far less expensive, once the mediation is completed legal council can get the agreement made into a court order where appropriate so everyone is reasonably happy with the outcome not just legal council!
Disclaimer I run an online or teleconferencing Mediation service
Lochlann
http://www.helplink.ie
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