Books

Laureate na nÓg Sarah Crossan signs six-figure deal for first adult novel

A sneak preview of Saturday’s books pages

Sarah Crossan: Here is the Beehive, about an affair which ends in tragedy and then takes a twist, is to be published next August. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill

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Martin Doyle
Thu Oct 17 2019 - 13:52

Bloomsbury has acquired Laureate na nÓg Sarah Crossan’s first novel for adults in a six-figure deal at auction. Here is the Beehive, about an affair which ends in tragedy and then takes a twist, is to be published next August. She is best known for One, which won 2016’s YA Book Prize, and 2019’s Toffee.

Philip Ardagh has been appointed international literary adviser to the national children’s literary festival at Listowel Writers’ Week. Poetry Ireland’s inaugural poet in residence is award-winning poet Catherine Ann Cullen. The Irish title for World Book Day 2020 is Where Are You Puffling: An Irish Adventure by Erika McGann & Gerry Daly (O’Brien Press).

Leonard and Hungry Paul by Rónán Hession has been shortlisted for the Booksellers Association's Books Are My Bag Award. "What makes this such a unique award," said his publisher Kevin Duffy of Bluemoose Books, "is that it is curated by booksellers themselves and voted for by the public. Many bookshops have already chosen it as one of their books of the year and it would be great to see Ronan lift such a prize." Readers can cast their vote here.

Reckonings: Legacies of Nazi Persecution and the Quest for Justice by Mary Fulbrook; These Truths: A History of the United States with the origins and rise of a divided nation, from 1492 to the present by Jill Lepore; and Maoism: A Global History by Julia Lovell are the three finalists for the leading international prize for history writing, the $75,000 Cundill History Prize, among whose judges are UCD’s Robert Gerwarth.

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This weekend’s book features include an essay by Declan Kiberd on Cardinal Newman’s cultural and spiritual legacy; film director Stephen Bradley on his memoir about how moving back home to Ireland from London with his wife Deirdre O’Kane saved his life from Stage 4 cancer; Ian Urbina on sea slavery, an extract from his new work, The Outlaw Ocean; and Peter Murphy on the crossoveer between song lyrics and poetry.

Reviews include Susan McKay on Burned by Sam McBride; Niamh Donnelly on We are the Weather by Jonathan Safran Foer; Malachy Clerkin on Richie Sadlier; Anna Carey on The Life and Loves of E Nesbit by Eleanor Fitzsimons; Paul Muldoon on Still Life by the late Ciaran Carson; Deirdre McQuillan on This Golden Fleece by Esther Rutter; Rick O’Shea on The Body by Bill Bryson; Eamon Maher on Serotonin by Michel Houellebecq; Sarah Gilmartin on Fleishman Is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner; Rob Doyle on Stalingrad by Antony Beevor; John McAuliffe on new collections by Paul Muldoon and Stephen Sexton; and a new poem by Jane Clarke.

Cruel Acts by Jane Casey is this week's Irish Times Eason book offer. When you buy The Irish Times, you can also pick up this acclaimed thriller by one of Ireland's most popular crime writers for just €4.99, a saving of €6. Read our interview with the author and our review of this "relentless, ingenious, irrestible" thriller.