Among Communists by Sinéad Morrissey: memoir captures North in pressure cooker of weirdness
Memoir expresses an attitude of observation that rhymes quietly with poetry, a revelation of a writer and her experience
Book Reviews
All Them Dogs by Djamel White: Magical writing which tenderises the most hardened characters
Novel is filled with a street lyricism that mines masculinity in a manner reminiscent of Jim Carroll or Robert McLiam Wilson
The Visit by Neil Tully: Lyrical debut novel asks what happens to those left behind
A once insular Wexford community casts its gaze outwards as it prepares to welcome JFK
The News from Dublin by Colm Tóibín: Stories by a writer with complete command of the craft
New short story collection ranges over territories familiar to Tóibín’s readers: Wexford, Catalonia, Argentina and the US
Fiction in translation: City Like Water; Women Without Men; X is Where I Am; You Are the Fuhrer’s Unrequited Love
A nightmarish cityscape that is identifiably Hong Kong; a classic of oppression in Iran; a celebration of queer lives; and a stark exploration of Albert Speer
James Joyce - A Political Life by Frank Callanan: Depth and detail over a wide historical canvas
Book’s raison d’être is to magnify the effect of Charles Stewart Parnell and his downfall on Joyce for the whole of his career
Book reviews in brief: A Better Death; Wilderness of Mirrors; The Throats of Birds
New releases cover assisted dying, race in South Africa and Ireland reimagined as a surrealist dystopia
What We Tried to Bury Grows Here by Julian Zabalbeascoa: traumatic Spanish Civil War impact captured
Everything is torn apart in this moving novel: families, lovers, decency and indeed the narrative itself
Our Martin and All the Dead Voices: two republican takes on three decades of violence
Jim McVeigh writes the apologia for Martin McGuinness’s life, while Sinn Féin figure Danny Morrison revises and updates his memoir
Muskism: essential to understanding where we are and how we got here
A convincing case that Muskism has been possible only because our culture celebrates gross inequality and derides empathy and the common good
Elemental by Arthur Snell: how climate change influences who holds world power
A tough read, but a valuable one. Snell presents us with some fascinating geopolitical nuances
We Need to Talk about Roy by Dave Hannigan: Game effort, but Roy Keane is no Katie Taylor
Interesting observations on the Corkman’s influence on Irish rugby and tabloids
As If by Isabel Waidner: the absurdity of living with your shadow self
Review: Comically intricate layers slowly reveal themselves in the fifth novel by Goldsmiths Prize-winner Isabel Waidner
The Shortest History of Ireland by James Hawes: Unorthodox, accessible, deeply impressive
The author’s narrative choices will not be to the taste of some readers but he has packed a pleasing amount of knowledge and understanding into his concise work
Red Dawn Over China: Frank Dikötter revisits Communist rule before 1949
A critique of Communist triumph and its human cost, from the civil war to early statehood
The First Ghetto: Venice and the Jews by Alexander Lee: Stunning account of a dark history
Tracing the creation of Europe’s first designated urban quarter and the bleak reality for those who lived there
The Library of Traumatic Memory by Neil Jordan: Immediately engaging kaleidoscopic read set in 2084
Novel speaks to our current moment of data-harvesting taken to extremes and the kind of dud seances which Big Tech proports to offer via its ghoulish ‘grief avatar business’
Crime fiction: From a disturbing revenge story to a Romanian detective in an absurd bind
The Truth About Ruby Cooper by Liz Nugent; Witch Trial by Harriet Tyce; Maneater by Ellie Graves; The City in Year Zero by Michael Russell; and Astronaut! by Oana Aristide
A Far-Flung Life by ML Stedman: An epic and intimate family saga
Author’s descriptive talent and prose anchor the story in place, a vast sheep station in remote Western Australia
Minor Black Figures: a searingly intelligent critique of contemporary culture
Acclaimed author Brandon Taylor’s new novel is less romance novel and more dissection of art in the age of identity politics
A Rebel and a Traitor by Rory Carroll: Thrilling account of a key figure in Irish history
Author expertly arranges a huge range of characters and locations in absorbing story about Roger Casement
Helenio Herrera: Football’s Original Master of the Dark Arts
A riveting ride both on and off the pitch, beautifully crafted and impressively researched
Rasputin and the Downfall of the Romanovs by Antony Beevor: perhaps a mirror for our troubled times
A dual examination of the decline of imperial Russia and the backdrop against which Rasputin’s influence was enabled
Enough Said by Alan Bennett: eclecticism of fourth diaries collection ultimately charms
Diaries are notable as the internal record of a thinking, feeling person behind the icon
Four Night Seas by Niamh Mac Cabe: A quiet, subtle capturing of cultural identity without resort to cliche
These strange, yet strangely familiar short stories encapsulate the distinctive Irishness of the rural west
Books in brief: Frank Shouldice’s moving tale charts a risky road-trip toward healing
Beneath the Cedar Tree by Frank Shouldice; How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder by Nina McConigley; Wise: Finding purpose, meaning and wisdom beyond the midpoint of life by Frank Tallis
Rory O’Connor biography by Gerard Shannon: A rigorous and impeccably balanced portrait
Rory O’Connor: To Defend the Republic shows why Irish republican deserves recognition for his turbulent life
The Woman in the Water by Henrietta McKervey: Gothic thriller reopens familiar mystery
Inspired by Rebecca, this novel explores themes of duty, reputation and female autonomy
Seamus Heaney’s later years: Nicholas Allen explores his final poetry volumes
Allen examines ageing, illness and the enduring light of Heaney’s poetic world
Good Slut by Zoe Strimpel: Blind spots and biases quickly show in this myopic manifesto
What’s most striking about a book ostensibly about celebrating women’s freedom is its utter joylessness
A Beautiful Loan by Mary Costello: Timely homing in on sorrows particular to women
In Costello’s novel the protagonist looks back on her life in an effort to determine ‘why we do what we do, or tolerate what we tolerate, or love who we love’
Dragons, drowned worlds, different realities: March’s YA fiction picks
Clíodhna O’Sullivan’s debut novel, Her Hidden Fire, and new books from Kristin Dwyer, Emiko Jean, Billy Ray and Luke Palmer
Book reviews in brief: Irish Nation Building; Crick: A Mind in Motion; Trip
New releases cover examination of early economic nation building, the discoverer of DNA helix and an on-point spoof of contemporary culture
Baldwin, A Love Story: Compelling biography reveals James Baldwin’s enduring passions
There is an uncanny timeliness in the appearance of this title, as the failings of American governance that Baldwin so clinically described once more cast a dangerous shadow
Crosswords & Puzzles
Crosswords & puzzles to keep you challenged and entertained
Common Ground
How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands
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Weddings, Births, Deaths and other family notices