Books from Ireland

During the summer of 1981, an unnamed young girl is sent from her crowded family home to live with relatives in rural County Wexford while her mother prepares to give birth. Quiet and observant, she arrives at the Kinsellas’ farm uncertain of what awaits her. But unlike the home she has left behind, this household offers her tenderness, attention, and a sense of belonging she has never experienced before. As the summer unfolds, the girl discovers the transformative power of being cared for. Yet beneath the peaceful routines of farm life lies a grief the Kinsellas rarely discuss. Through small gestures, unspoken truths, and the child’s growing awareness of the adult world, Claire Keegan creates a moving portrait of childhood and the complicated bonds between parents and children. Foster is a beautifully restrained novella about the families we are born into, the love we find unexpectedly, and the lasting impact of being seen and valued.

The Bee Sting follows the Barnes family, whose seemingly comfortable life in a small Irish town begins to unravel under the weight of financial troubles, personal secrets, and emotional isolation. Dickie, the father, once ran a successful car dealership but finds his business collapsing during an economic downturn. His wife, Imelda, struggles with the consequences of her past and the loss of the glamorous life she once imagined for herself. Their teenage daughter, Cass, is torn between academic ambitions and the desire to escape her family, while her younger brother, PJ, quietly confronts his own fears and insecurities. Through the shifting perspectives of its four central characters, Murray explores the gap between how families present themselves and what happens behind closed doors. Blending dark humor with tragedy, the novel examines inherited trauma, denial, and the consequences of seemingly small decisions. Set against the backdrop of contemporary Ireland, The Bee Sting is an expansive portrait of a family struggling to hold itself together as its world falls apart.

Intermezzo follows two Irish brothers, Peter and Ivan Koubek, as they struggle to navigate life after the death of their father. Peter, a successful Dublin lawyer in his thirties, appears to have everything under control, but beneath his confident exterior he is struggling with grief, insomnia, and complicated relationships with two women: Sylvia, his former partner, and Naomi, a much younger university student. Ivan, a socially awkward twenty-two-year-old competitive chess player, finds himself drawn to Margaret, an older woman whose own life is undergoing a period of uncertainty. Despite their shared loss, the brothers find it increasingly difficult to understand one another. Their differences in temperament, age, and approach to relationships create tension as they attempt to make sense of their changing lives. Through intimate psychological portraits and shifting perspectives, Rooney explores grief, masculinity, love, sibling relationships, and the ways people seek connection during periods of emotional upheaval. The title refers to an intermezzo, a musical interlude, reflecting a transitional moment in the brothers’ lives as they confront loss and reconsider who they want to become.