Patrick by Alannah Hopkin (New Ireland, €24.95)
St Patrick was arguably Ireland’s most influential person. Born in the fifth century, his legacy still surrounds and affects us today. The country is awash with grottos, holy wells, churches and cathedrals bearing his name. Not forgetting our two most gruelling pilgrimages: St Patrick’s Purgatory, Lough Derg and Croagh Patrick. Hopkin, very deliberately, devotes many pages relating her experience and the effects of her visit to each. His other great legacy — the shamrock — is now better known perhaps as the Taoiseach’s annual calling card to the White House. It is (incorrectly) considered by many to be the official national emblem of Ireland. This updated book (originally published in 1989) offers a thoroughly researched account of an extremely humble man, with an obsessive love of God.
Ada’s Realm by Sharon Dodua Otoo, tr. Jon Cho-Polizzi (MacLehose Press, £16.99)
“Who is Ada?” This is the question posed on the title page of Dodua Otoo’s debut novel. “Ada is not one woman, but many, and she is every woman” comes the response. In this novel, Ada is five different characters. The story of each is interwoven in this complex epic that traverses Ghana, England and Germany and spans the years 1459-2019. With each narrative, the cycle of female and racial oppression is born anew. As is Ada’s resilience in her quest for emancipation. Occasionally the blending of stories has a disorientating effect, which is likely the point. The result, however, is that the avant-garde style of prose at times eclipses the narrative itself. — Brigid O’Dea
Sidle Creek by Jolene McIlwain (Melville House, £14.99)
A solid short-story collection debut from McIlwain. Rugged and ripe characters and their offsprings’ lives run around Sidle Creek, set in the hills of Appalachia in western Pennsylvania, their daily doings offering up slices of gothic Americana where nature, labour, and living go hand-in-glove. Hands play a large role in these stories; handing on knowledge and skills, hands seeking a little lustre in lacklustre lives, those in need of a helping hand, hands of fate and violence that never loosens their grips. There’s no shortage of blood around Sidle Creek, either. Like all collections, some stories work better than others (the very short ones feel underdeveloped) but McIlwain shows plenty of potential picking at a part of small-town America’s dark heart. A name to follow. — NJ McGarrigle
