Books from Ireland

Spanning seven decades of Irish history, The Heart’s Invisible Furies follows Cyril Avery, a boy born in 1940s Ireland to an unmarried teenage mother who is publicly shamed by her community and forced to leave her home. Adopted by a wealthy couple in Dublin, Cyril grows up in a household where he is constantly reminded that he is not their biological son. Feeling like an outsider, he embarks on a lifelong search for love, acceptance, and a place where he truly belongs. As Cyril moves through adulthood, his experiences unfold against the backdrop of a changing Ireland. Growing up in a deeply conservative Catholic society, he struggles to understand and accept his sexuality in a country where homosexuality is criminalised and social prejudice shapes countless lives. His journey takes him beyond Ireland, through relationships, personal losses, and difficult discoveries, before eventually bringing him back to his homeland. Combining dark humour with moments of profound tenderness, Boyne explores the consequences of religious intolerance, social exclusion, and the silence surrounding sexuality. Through Cyril’s personal experiences, the novel also traces Ireland’s transformation from a society dominated by the Catholic Church to one increasingly willing to confront its past. Ultimately, it is a story about identity, belonging, friendship, and the possibility of finding love and reconciliation after a lifetime of struggle.

On a summer Friday in Dublin, office worker Cathal watches the hours pass, looking forward to the weekend. Yet his thoughts keep returning to Sabine, the French woman he was once engaged to—and to the small moments and disagreements that destroyed their relationship. As the evening unfolds, details of their time together reveal a troubling portrait of a man whose rigid expectations and lack of generosity gradually undermine the possibility of love. The 2023 collection brings together three stories: So Late in the Day, The Long and Painful Death, and Antarctica. Across these unsettling encounters, Claire Keegan examines the power dynamics between women and men, exposing how entitlement, indifference, and the threat of violence can shape intimate relationships. With extraordinary precision and emotional restraint, she finds profound meaning in ordinary conversations and seemingly insignificant gestures. The result is a quietly devastating exploration of gender, intimacy, and the harm people can inflict without ever recognising themselves as cruel.

Jay has built a new life in London with her girlfriend, keeping her complicated past at a safe distance. But when she learns that her beloved older brother, who died in an accident, may be declared a Catholic saint, she is forced to confront the family and faith she left behind. Both tender and sharply funny, this novel explores queer identity, grief, and the complicated legacy of the Catholic Church in Ireland, asking who gets to decide how a life is remembered.