Irish fiction

  • 21 Irish Novels for the 21st Century

    21 Irish Novels for the 21st Century

    Let’s just get this out of the way: this St. Patrick’s Day list of 21 Irish Novels for the 21st Century is absurdly incomplete. Where are Colm Tóibín, Emma Donoghue, Roddy Doyle or William Trevor? There’s no Anne Enright, or John Boyne, or John Banville or his alter-ego Benjamin Black; no Tana French or Ken Bruen… Continue reading

  • If You Like Tana French

    We librarians hear a lot about readers’ favorite writers, and some names come up over and over again. One of these is Irish mystery writer Tana French, whose gritty Dublin Murder Squad series provides the perfect blend of police procedure and intricate psychological suspense. Only trouble is, she doesn’t write them fast enough. No worries:… Continue reading

  • The Third Policeman

    The Irish may be said to possess the gift of gab, but the truth is they’re none too shabby with the pen, either. Most readers have at least a passing familiarity with the usual suspects-Joyce, Yeats, Wilde-but may not be aware of the lesser known author Flann O’Brien. O’Brien (a pseudonym of Brian O’Nolan) wrote,… Continue reading