New Voices: 20 Best New Irish Writers

1. Kala

by Colin Walsh

€9.49

THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2023 'Unforgettable' Observer 'Masterful' Irish Times 'Explosive' The Telegraph We used to be such a force, back then when she was still with us. What happened to her? In the seaside town of Kinlough three old friends are thrown together for the first time in years. They - Helen, Joe and Mush - were part of an original group of six inseparable teenagers in the summer of 2003, with motherless, reckless Kala Lanann as their group's white-hot centre. Soon after that summer's peak, Kala disappeared without a trace. Now it's fifteen years later. Human remains have been discovered in the woods. Two more girls have gone missing. As past and present begin to collide, the estranged friends are forced to confront their own complicity in the events that led to Kala's disappearance... ___ 'A gritty heartbreaker of a thriller... a spectacular read for Donna Tartt and Tana French fans' Kirkus 'The thriller of the moment' The i Paper, Best Summer Reads 'Tana French fans will relish Kala' Guardian, Best Summer Reads 'A compulsive joy' Daily Mail 'Kala heralds an exciting new voice' Observer

2. Falling animals

by Sheila Armstrong

€10.99

A BBC 2 BETWEEN THE COVERS BOOK CLUB PICK SHORTLISTED FOR THE RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE 2024 WATERSTONES IRISH BOOK OF THE MONTH JULY 2024 'Vivid, sensuous ... A subtle tale of loss, loneliness and disconnection' PAUL LYNCH, IRISH INDEPENDENT 'Lush, lyrical and cleverly-constructed. A beautiful book' LOUISE KENNEDY 'Beautifully written ... An unchained sea-melody of outsiders, pilgrims and castaways' ANNE ENRIGHT The disquieting story of an unidentified man as told by those who crossed paths with him on the last day of his life, Sheila Armstrong's debut novel is haunting, lyrical and darkly suspenseful On an isolated, windswept beach, a pale figure sits serenely against a sand dune staring out to sea. His hands are folded neatly in his lap and there is a faint smile on his otherwise lifeless face. After months of fruitless investigation, the nameless stranger is buried in an unmarked grave, but the mystery of his life and death lingers on, drawing the nearby villagers into its wake. From strandings to shipwrecks, it is not the first time that strangeness has washed up on their shores. As a chorus of voices come together to unravel the story of one man, alone on a beach, a crosshatched portrait begins to emerge, threaded by lives both true and imagined, real and surreal, past and present. Reader Reviews 'Beautifully written and gently catches the reader with its meditative prose and deep humanity' 'Such a beautiful book' 'Gorgeous wild setting and achingly recognisable characters'

3. Trespasses

by Louise Kennedy

€10.99

**THE NO. 1 BESTSELLER (The Times ), SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2023** 'Like Sally Rooney mixed with a political thriller' RUSSELL KANE 'Intense, unflinchingly honest, it broke my heart a million times' MARIAN KEYES 'Absolutely loved it' MAX PORTER 'A beautiful, devastating novel' NICK HORNBY ------------------------- One by one, she undid each event, each decision, each choice. If Davy had remembered to put on a coat. If Seamie McGeown had not found himself alone on a dark street. If Michael Agnew had not walked through the door of the pub on a quiet night in February in his white shirt. There is nothing special about the day Cushla meets Michael, a married man from Belfast, in the pub owned by her family. But here, love is never far from violence, and this encounter will change both of their lives forever. As people get up each morning and go to work, school, church or the pub, the daily news rolls in of another car bomb exploded, another man beaten, killed or left for dead. In the class Cushla teaches, the vocabulary of seven-year-old children now includes phrases like 'petrol bomb' and 'rubber bullets'. And as she is forced to tread lines she never thought she would cross, tensions in the town are escalating, threatening to destroy all she is working to hold together. Tender and shocking, Trespasses is an unforgettable debut of people trying to live ordinary lives in extraordinary times. ______________ * WINNER OF THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS BOOK OF THE YEAR: DEBUT FICTION * * WINNER OF THE AN POST IRISH BOOK AWARDS NOVEL OF THE YEAR 2022 * * WINNER OF THE MCKITTERICK PRIZE 2023 * * SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2022 * * AN OBSERVER BEST DEBUT NOVELIST OF 2022 * * A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIME * * THE CRITICS' MOST-PICKED BOOK OF THE YEAR*

4. Close to home

by Michael Magee

€11.19

WINNER OF THE ROONEY PRIZE FOR LITERATURE 2023 WINNER OF THE NERO BOOK AWARD FOR DEBUT FICTION 2023  Sean is back. Back in Belfast and back into old habits. Back on the mad all-nighters, the borrowed tenners and missing rent, the casual jobs that always fall through. Back in these scarred streets, where the promised prosperity of peacetime has never arrived. Back among his brothers, his ma, and all the things they never talk about. Until one night Sean finds himself at a party - dog-tired, surrounded by jeering strangers, his back against the wall - and he makes a big mistake. 'Staggeringly humane, unfaltering, taut and tender... [It] feels like that rarest of things: a genuinely necessary book' Guardian 'Every detail rings true, every character is fleshy and real and heartbreaking... Michael Magee has a remarkable talent' Sunday Times WATERSTONES IRISH BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023 SHORTLISTED FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES YOUNG WRITER OF THE YEAR AWARD 2024 SHORTLISTED FOR THE IRISH BOOK AWARDS NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR 2023 SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2023 SHORTLISTED FOR THE EWART-BIGGS PRIZE 2023 SHORTLISTED FOR THE AUTHORS' CLUB BEST FIRST NOVEL AWARD 2024 LONGLISTED FOR THE DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE FOR LITERATURE 2024 ONE OF SARAH JESSICA PARKER'S BEST BOOKS OF 2023 BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023 ACCORDING TO THE TIMES AND IRISH TIMES

5. Tell me what I am

by Una Mannion

€11.99

WINNER OF THE CWA GOLD DAGGER SHORTLISTED FOR THE RSL ENCORE AWARD From the internationally bestselling author of A Crooked Tree 'Beautiful, haunting.' LOUISE KENNEDY 'Vividly real . . . There's love here as well as pain.' MARIAN KEYES 'Deeply moving.' OBSERVER 'A sure-footed and emotionally complex novel . . . absorbing.' IRISH TIMES 'I loved it.' LIZ NUGENT Please don't hang up. I don't know if you remember. You used to live with me. You and your mother. Ruby lives with her father in an old farmhouse at the end of a dirt road. He teaches her to hunt, to forage for mushrooms, to gut a fish. She learns to tiptoe around his temper - and never to ask about her absent mother. Ruby has no idea that, hundreds of miles away, a woman she barely remembers is desperate to answer those same questions. Captivating, tender and deeply moving, Tell Me What I Am is an unforgettable portrait of the indelible bonds of family - and how far we will go for the ones we love. 'Haunting and deeply moving.' OBSERVER 'Propulsive and richly atmospheric.' IRISH INDEPENDENT 'An engrossing, deftly-told story with an aching secret at its heart, this is a profoundly moving novel of family and women standing strong together.' LISA BALLANTYNE 'Sharp, poignant, thrilling and moving.' CHRIS WHITAKER 'Compelling . . . Mannion writes with a lyrical economy that stands out, and always shows a deep empathy for her well-drawn characters.' IRISH EXAMINER 'A wrenching portrait of the umbilical bond between mother and child and, more powerfully still, an icily persuasive account of the subtle dark arts of male coercion and abuse.' DAILY MAIL WHAT READERS ARE SAYING: 'A brilliantly told story, engrossing, with love, pain, heartbreak and darkness. The characterisation was excellent and the plot was moving and gently woven.' 5* reader review 'I raced through... Well-written, incredibly tense and chilling in parts.' 5* reader review 'A book to savour and appreciate as well as enjoy.' 5* reader review 'This is such a powerful story of love and family. It kept me awake desperate to find out what had happened to affect them all so badly.' 5* reader review 'This is a beautifully written novel with powerfully drawn characters.' 5* reader review 'Had me hooked... Loved it.' 5* reader review 'Wow what a book!' 5* reader review **Una Mannion's first novel, A Crooked Tree , is available now**

6. Though the bodies fall

by Noel O'Regan

€9.49

Miche�l Burns lives alone in his family's bungalow at the end of Kerry Head in Ireland. It is a picturesque place, but the cliffs have a darker side to them: for generations they have been a suicide black spot. Miche�l's mother saw the saving of these lost souls - these visitors - as her spiritual duty, and now, in the wreckage of his life, Miche�l finds himself continuing her work. When his sisters tell him that they want to sell the land, he must choose between his siblings and the visitors, a future or a past.

7. Ordinary human failings

by Megan Nolan

€11.99

*LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2024* *SHORTLISTED FOR FICTION - 2023 NERO BOOK AWARDS* After the death of a young girl, the finger of suspicion is pointing at one reclusive family. 'Ambitious and original' DAVID NICHOLLS 'Gripping. A triumph' SUNDAY TIMES It's 1990 in London and, after the death of a young girl on an estate, the finger of suspicion is pointing at one reclusive Irish family: the Greens. At their heart sits Carmel: beautiful, other-worldly, and once destined for a future beyond her circumstances until life - and love - got in her way. Now, as the scandal unfolds and the tabloids hunt their monster, she must confront the secrets and silences that have trapped her family for so many generations. A DAILY TELEGRAPH , TIMES , NEW STATESMAN AND SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 'Daring, brilliant. Bold and beautiful' DAILY TELEGRAPH 'A compulsive read' THE TIMES 'Heartbreaking' VOGUE

8. The happy couple

by Naoise Dolan

€10.99

'A brilliant contemporary novel' Colm Tóibìn 'I am fully in awe of Dolan's talent' Douglas Stuart 'I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed it' Marian Keyes 'Dazzling. Not a word is out of place' Katherine Heiny Meet Celine and Luke. To all intents and purposes, the happy couple. But Celine's more interested in playing the piano, and Luke's a serial cheater. And as their big day approaches, the complicated lives of the wedding party begin to unravel. A fed-up bridesmaid, a lovesick best man, guests and family members all find themselves searching for their own happily ever afters. From the author of Exciting Times , this is a sparkling ensemble novel about love and marriage, fidelity and betrayal.

9. Factory Girls P/B

by Michelle Gallen

€9.49

'The perfect pick for those missing their dose of Derry Girls' Irish Examiner 'Entertaining, touching and savagely funny' Sunday Times 'Vital, bang-on, and seriously funny' Roddy Doyle It's the summer of 1994, and all Maeve Murray wants is some money and good exam results so she can escape her shitty wee town in Northern Ireland. Over the holidays, Maeve bags herself a job at the local shirt factory with her best friends Caroline and Aoife. It's set to be the summer of their lives, but first she's got to survive a tit-for-tat paramilitary campaign as brutal as her relationship with her mam, iron 800 shirts a day to keep her job and dodge the attentions of Handy Andy Strawbridge, her slimy English boss. And when she starts to notice things aren't adding up at the factory, it seems like revealing the truth may just be her one-way ticket out of town.

10. The amusements

by Aingeala Flannery

€10.99

WINNER of the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year 2023 WINNER of the John McGahern Prize 2023 'Unputdownable . . . one of the best novels of the year' Sunday Independent * * * In the seaside town of Tramore, County Waterford, visitors arrive in waves with the tourist season, reliving the best days of their childhoods in its caravan parks, chippers and amusement arcades. Local teenager Helen Grant is indifferent to the charm of her surroundings; she dreams of escaping to art college with her glamorous classmate Stella Swaine and, from there, taking on the world. But leaving Tramore is easier said than done. Though they don't yet know it, Helen and Stella's lives are pulled by tides beyond their control. Following the Grant and Swaine families and their neighbours over three decades, The Amusements is a luminous and unforgettable story about roads taken and not taken - and a brilliantly observed portrait of a small-town community. * * * 'THIS BOOK is EVERYTHING' Marian Keyes 'Flannery's flawed, hopeful characters live and grow on the page' ANNE ENRIGHT, author of The Gathering 'Quietly beautiful . . . Flannery's characters are very well drawn, as is her understanding of small-town mores and idle gossip. It's a book that leaves and impression long after the final page' IRISH INDEPENDENT 'Effortless, perceptive, and hugely entertaining - I loved it' DONAL RYAN, author of Strange Flowers 'A cracker of a book' KATHLEEN MAC MAHON, author of Nothing But Blue Sky 'Fantastic . . . we were gripped' STELLAR 'If you like dark humour, superbly drawn characters, caravan parks, fish suppers and slot machines, The Amusements is what you've been waiting for' JAN CARSON, author of The Fire Starters 'A joy to read' LOUISE NEALON, author of Snowflake 'A brilliant book. I loved meeting all these characters, who jumped off the page and stayed in my head' RÓISÍN INGLE 'Brilliant. Dramatic, heartfelt, sometimes shocking and sad' IRISH EXAMINER

11. Snowflake P/B

by Louise Nealon

€10.99

Debbie White lives on a dairy farm with her mother, Maeve, and her uncle, Billy. Billy sleeps out in a caravan in the garden with a bottle of whiskey and the stars overhead for company. Maeve spends her days recording her dreams, which she believes to be prophecies. This world is Debbie's normal, but she is about to step into life as a student at Trinity College Dublin. As she navigates between sophisticated new friends and the family bubble, things begin to unravel. Maeve's eccentricity tilts into something darker, while Billy's drinking gets worse. Debbie struggles to cope with the weirdest, most difficult parts of herself and her small life. But if the Whites are mad, they are also fiercely loving, and each other's true place of safety. Startling, fresh and utterly unique, Snowflake is a story of messy families, messier friendships and how new chapters often mean starting right back at the beginning.

12. Nothing special

by Nicole Flattery

€11.60

AN IRISH TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023 _______________ 'A blade-sharp coming-of-age novel' SPECTATOR 'Confirms Flattery as a bracingly original writer' IRISH INDEPENDENT 'In enviably elegant prose, she manages to be both arch and deadly serious' LOUISE KENNEDY _______________ A wildly original debut novel about two young women navigating the complex worlds of Andy Warhol's Factory, and coming of age in 1960s New York New York City, 1966. Seventeen-year-old Mae lives in a run-down apartment with her alcoholic mother and her mother's sometimes-boyfriend, Mikey. She is turned off by the petty girls at her high school, and the sleazy men she typically meets. When she drops out, she is presented with a job offer that will remake her world entirely: she is hired as a typist for the artist Andy Warhol. Warhol is composing an unconventional novel by recording the conversations and experiences of his many famous and alluring friends. Tasked with transcribing these tapes alongside several other girls, Mae quickly befriends Shelley and the two of them embark on a surreal adventure at the fringes of the countercultural movement. Going to parties together, exploring their womanhood and sexuality, this should be the most enlivening experience of Mae's life. But as she grows increasingly obsessed with the tapes and numb to her own reality, Mae must grapple with the thin line between art and voyeurism and determine how she can remain her own person as the tide of the sixties sweeps over her. Nothing Special is a whip-smart coming-of-age story about friendship, independence and the construction of art and identity, bringing to life the experience of young women in this iconic and turbulent moment. _______________ PRAISE FOR SHOW THEM A GOOD TIME: 'A masterclass . . . Bold, irreverent and agonisingly funny' Sally Rooney 'Announces the arrival of a brilliant talent' Financial Times ' Explores difficult questions about self-worth, agency and intimacy with thrilling sharpness' Sunday Times 'Demands repeated reading' Jon McGregor A 2023 HIGHLIGHT FOR: THE TIMES * TELEGRAPH * STYLIST * GQ * GUARDIAN * HARPER'S BAZAAR * GOOD HOUSEKEEPING * WATERSTONES * i-D * IRISH TIMES * HUFFINGTON POST UK

13. Boys don't cry

by Fíona Scarlett

€11.59

'I can't remember ever reading anything so moving . . . It's so beautiful.' MARIAN KEYES They say boys don't cry. But Finn's seen his Da do it when he thinks no one's looking, so that's not true. And isn't it OK to be sad, when bad things happen? They say boys don't cry, but you might . . . 'Unforgettable.' Donal Ryan 'Authentic to the bone' Kit de Waal It will break your heart in a million different ways.' Louise O'Neill 'Powerful and poignant.' Ruth Hogan 'Hilarious and heartbreaking.' Louise Nealon What readers are saying: 'Fiona Scarlett is certainly up there with the likes of Roddy Doyle . . . A beautifully written, authentic novel, that will make you both laugh and cry, I just want to recommend this book to everyone.' 'This is a heartbreaking and very emotional novel that is exquisitely written. Fìona's writing style helps to bring such raw emotion to the text that it was impossible to not shed a tear!' 'I cried so much reading this book . . . A stunning read that I'll be thinking about for a long time.' 'There is a lot of humour to balance the heartache . . . All humanity is here, in all its shades, and that's what stays with you long after you finish reading. A brilliant debut.'

14. Dirty laundry

by Disha Bose

€10.99

SECRETS, DESIRE, BLOOD... It all comes out in the wash 'A twisty tale of love gone wrong' Joshilyn Jackson, Mother May I 'Lethal, entertaining with characters you'll love to hate' Darby Kane, Pretty Little Wife ------------- Keep your friends close and your neighbours closer... Ciara has it all - a loving husband, well-behaved children and an immaculate home. But behind the filters, her reality is far from what it seems. Mishti is stuck in a loveless marriage, raising her daughter in a country that is too cold, among children who look nothing like her. Lauren is mostly happy, despite being judged for letting her kids run naked, wild and free. Then Ciara is found murdered in her pristine home and suddenly everyone is a suspect. Hushed whispers, secret rendezvous and bloody betrayals . . . Everyone has their dirty laundry, but this goes beyond gossip. This is all-out war. A deliciously scandalous page-turner about the dark side of suburbia that peels back the layers of Ciara's insta-perfect life to reveal friendships gone rotten, manipulation masquerading as love and families riddled with lies . . . ------------- 'Bose masterfully creates deeply drawn and utterly human characters in this powerful suspense debut' Liv Constantine, The Last Mrs Parrish 'A delicious take on people behaving badly' Darby Kane, Pretty Little Wife 'With deep dark secrets and twisted webs of lies, Dirty Laundry is everything I want in a book - Desperate Housewives in a small-town setting, each turn in the story even better than the last' Andrea Mara, All Her Fault 'A riveting debut, and Bose is a writer to watch' Joshilyn Jackson, Mother May I 'Extraordinary! Absolutely compelling, original and intriguing. Domestic noir at its very finest' Liz Nugent, Unraveling Oliver 'Disha writes stunning prose and her characters jump off the page. A devastating examination of what lies beneath, and how we can never truly leave our past behind' Nikki Smith, Look What You Made Me Do 'Real Housewives fans will devour this debut that simmers with discontent and deceit' Liz Alterman, The Perfect Neighborhood

15. Wunderland

by Caitriona Lally

€14.95

Caitrìona Lally's sophomore novel centres around an outsider protagonist, Roy, an Irishman exiled from Ireland to Hamburg for unknown reasons.  In his new, simple life he works as a cleaner at the Wunderland miniature exhibition where he is more comfortable meddling in the tiny scenes than he is in interacting with his co-workers and visitors to the museum.  To Roy's almost total indifference, his sister Gert visits for a few days, the first of their family to do so since his exile, and she patiently and then not-so-patiently tries to talk to him and discover what really prompted his move away. But Gert is fighting her own demons, having checked out of her exhausting family life where she is losing herself in the face of her husband's deepening depression.  Latent forces within brother and sister explode to force them to do something - anything - to change their stagnant and bewildering lives. 

16. Where They Lie TPB

by Claire Coughlan

€13.99

Some stories demand to be told. They keep coming back, echoing down through the decades, until they find a teller . . . Dublin, 1943 Actress Julia Bridges disappears. The last sighting of her is entering the house of Gloria Fitzpatrick, who is later put on trial for the murder of another woman whose abortion she facilitated. But it’s never proved that Gloria had a hand in Julia’s death – and Julia’s body has never been found. Gloria, however, is sentenced to life in an institution for the criminally insane, until her apparent suicide a few years later, and the truth of what happened to Julia Bridges dies with her. Until . . . Dublin, 1968 Nicoletta Sarto is an ambitious junior reporter for the Irish Sentinel when the bones of Julia Bridges are discovered in the garden of a house on the outskirts of Dublin. Drawn into investigating the 25-year-old mystery of Julia’s disappearance and her link to the notorious Gloria Fitzpatrick, the story takes Nicoletta into the tangled underworld of the illegal abortion industry, stirring up long-buried secrets from her own past. As much a murder mystery story as a look at a young woman’s struggle to succeed in a man’s world, Where They Lie is a beautifully atmospheric debut that will stay with you long after you’ve turned the last page.

17. Glorious exploits

by Ferdia Lennon

€15.99

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2024 A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIME 'One of the most original and brilliant debuts in years' Irish Times 'Bold and totally unexpected ... I was hooked from the first page' Douglas Stuart, author of Shuggie Bain 'Brilliant ... Hilarious, moving, and profound' R. F. Kuang, author of Yellowface *** Ancient Sicily. Enter GELON: visionary, dreamer, theatre lover. Enter LAMPO: feckless, jobless, in need of a distraction. Imprisoned in the quarries of Syracuse, thousands of defeated Athenians hang on by the thinnest of threads. They're fading in the baking heat, but not everything is lost: they can still recite lines from Greek tragedy when tempted by Lampo and Gelon with goatskins of wine and scraps of food. And so an idea is born. Because, after all, you can hate the invaders but still love their poetry. It's audacious. It might even be dangerous. But like all the best things in life - love, friendship, art itself - it will reveal the very worst, and the very best, of what humans are capable of. What could possibly go wrong? *** 'Fierce, funny, fast-paced . Brings the ancient world roaring to life' Joanna Quinn, author of The Whalebone Theatre 'Love, war, poetry, reckless ambition, terrible failure, and glorious triumph . A delicious treat of a read. I loved it' Jon McGregor, author of Lean Fall Stand

18. Breakdown TPB

by Cathy Sweeney

€15.99

One winter morning, in contemporary Dublin, a middle-class woman wakes up next to her husband in her suburban home, and without conscious purpose, walks out the front door to begin a journey that ultimately leads to profound transfiguration. She travels first by car and then train to Rosslare, from where she takes a ferry to Fishguard in Wales. Along the way, she finds herself in service stations, shopping centres, train stations, ferry terminals; recalling her youth, earlier fantasies of suicide and reminiscing about those people who have come in and out of her life. Finally, 48 hours later, alone and isolated in a cottage in Wales, in a strange and eerie landscape, the woman reaches her nadir.

19. We were young

by Niamh Campbell

€9.79

'I love this woman's writing. Golden sentences' Diana Evans 'Witty, fiery, wistful and even shocking, with engrossing heady prose, Campbell's style is unique' Irish Independent ' An immensely enjoyable novel, and a great validation of Campbell's uncanny emotional insight' Megan Nolan, Sunday Independent Cormac is a photographer. Approaching forty and still single, he suddenly finds himself 'the leftover man'. Through talent and charm, he has escaped small town life and a haunted family. But now his peers are all getting divorced, dying, or buying trampolines in the suburbs. Cormac is dating former students, staying out all night and receiving boilerplate rejection emails for his work, propped up by a constellation of the women and ex-lovers in his life. In the last weeks of the year, Cormac meets Caroline, an ambitious young dancer, and embarks on a miniature odyssey of intimacy. Simultaneously, he must take responsibility for his married brother, whose mid-life crisis forces them both to reckon with a death in the family that hangs over those left behind. Set in Dublin, a city built on burial pits, We Were Young is a dazzlingly clever, deeply enjoyable novel from a Sunday Times Short Story Award-Winning author. 'In 30 years from now will some literary critic be asking what is meant by "Campbellesque"? That would not surprise me in the slightest' Irish Times