Advent
By Jane Fraser
Honno Modern Fiction £8.99
"Why do women always do as they think they should, not as they wish?" It is 1904 and Ellen has returned from America to the family farm in Wales, in an attempt to pull her alcoholic father back from the brink of destruction. Unmarried and independent, Ellen is out of place in the village, the "odd woman" of the period-both a threat to the patriarchal status quo, and a promise of what lies ahead. Now she's home, Ellen has to face her lost love, grapple with the ties that bind, and make decisions about where she belongs. The historical research is deep but worn lightly in this novel: the period feels immediate, breathing with vocabulary of place and time, village life intimately drawn. It's an atmospheric story sustained throughout with a simmering, elegant tension. Ruth McKee
What Matters Now
By Gareth O'Callaghan
Hachette, £14.99
Gareth O’Callaghan’s voice has been a familiar companion on Irish radio for decades. The talented and consummate broadcaster is also a qualified psychotherapist and the author of no less than six previous books. It should come as no surprise to any reader then, that his latest memoir manages to achieve something that should be impossible; the tender and vulnerable articulation of a tragic truth that serves to inspire the reader to be better and do better, against the odds.
That tragic truth is the weight of a life-changing diagnosis O’Callaghan received in 2018. Multiple Systems Atrophy is a progressive, degenerative, and ultimately fatal neurological condition for which there is no known cure.
What matters now, it seems, is a decision to live life to the fullest extent possible, on the author's own terms. Heart-breaking and uplifting, I defy anyone to read this memoir and not be affected by O'Callaghan's honesty and humanity. Becky Long
Robots, Ethics and the Future of Jobs
By Seán McDonagh
Messenger Publications, €19.95
Columban missionary, environmentalist and author Seán McDonagh has devoted himself to alleviating inequality and protecting the planet and here turns his attention to considering how the rapid technological developments we're experiencing can be harnessed to benefit the many rather than enrich the few. He doesn't deny the technologies' great potential but considers the threats they pose to privacy and livelihoods. Algorithms aren't easily understood, yet make decisions affecting millions of lives; artificial intelligence, robots, drones and 3D printing have huge implications not just for future employment but also for education, medicine, agriculture and warfare. The ethical dimensions of all of these, set in the context of Catholic social teaching, are teased out, with many helpful examples provided (including advice about future pandemic avoidance) and in approachable, non-technical language. Brian Maye
