Irish Fiction

Googling Her Jim Ward ‘Will you have a glass of something? Jameson?’ me Ma asked. ‘Naw. Can’t’ he said ‘whiskey don’t agree with me.’ ‘Oh’ she said, considering her next move ‘a bottle of stout then?’ ‘Yes please.’…

Exciting Times is the debut novel from Irish writer Naoise Dolan (and one of the Headstuff Picks of 2020). In addition to appearing in best selling lists in the original English, it has also been translated into Italian where it has got…

Last Man Standing Frank Nolan is flustered, a state compounded by his drowsiness. As he hurries down the road, he still can’t figure out why his alarm didn’t go off. His FitSmart is pre-programmed for 7.15am every weekday, it has…

It was 12:39 on Christmas Eve, and I was on my way to buy coffee number three, a pretence allowing me to chat with Agata, the attractive server, in the Wealdstone branch of Wenzel’s.  With her shoulder-length blonde hair and sardonic…

There’s something highly disconcerting I think (though I won’t go so far as to say disturbing) about entering the home of a close neighbour for the first time. One night, early on, just after teatime, circumstances required that I visit…

The man opposite me relaxes into his call as the train leaves the station. I stare directly into his face, willing him to hang up. He acknowledges me by shifting his gaze to stare out the window, while his mockney accent booms around the…

John William’s Stoner is not one of the best known of novels. Though, it has had its champions. Most recently Julian Barnes wrote a glowing review article and described it as his book of 2013. What Williams did in that novel, perhaps better…

“It is a tremendously Hibernian dilemma—a broken family, lost love, all the melancholy rest of it—and a Hibernian easement for it is suggested: fuck it, we’ll go for an old drink.” There is perhaps no better conspectus or cure for the…

A Map Under the House by David O'Neill A cat bowl, all matted hair and dried food, is against the wall in a corner of her kitchen. If the cat had any sense it would have started looking for food somewhere else but it waits, wide eyed,…

An accidental murder kicks off a crime fuelled chain of events that is both hilarious and heart breaking in Lisa McInerney’s roaring debut. At the centre of the interweaving narratives is the tough but troubled teenager Ryan Cusack. The…