{"title":"Irish Books We Love","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe world is finally copping onto itself and realising that some of the worlds best writers are from Ireland. But we at Harry Hartog have been reading Irish literature for a while now. These are some of our favourite* authors \u0026amp; books, old and new... and well you should read them all.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e*This list was curated by an exceptionally biased Irish bookseller... and yes Ulysses is in the list. No I haven't finished it. And yes YOU should read it.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"normal-people-sally-rooney-9780571334650","title":"Normal People","description":"\u003cp\u003e'THE LITERARY PHENOMENON OF THE DECADE' - Guardian\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eNOW A MAJOR TV SERIES WHICH WILL PREMIERE IN AUSTRALIA ON STAN ON APRIL 27\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWinner of the 2019 Novel of the Year and Book of the Year at the British Book Awards \n\u003cbr\u003eWinner of the 2018 Costa Novel Award\n\u003cbr\u003eWinner of Specsavers National Book Awards International Author of the Year\n\u003cbr\u003eLonglisted for the Man Booker Prize 2018\n\u003cbr\u003eLonglisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2019\n\u003cbr\u003e'Effortlessly brilliant ... tender and devastating.' - Guardian Books of the Year\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eConnell and Marianne grow up in the same small town in the west of Ireland, but the similarities end there. In school, Connell is popular and well-liked, while Marianne is a loner. But when the two strike up a conversation - awkward but electrifying - something life-changing begins.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eNormal People is a story of mutual fascination, friendship and love. It takes us from that first conversation to the years beyond, in the company of two people who try to stay apart but find they can't.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Brilliant ... It takes immense talent to write this well and make it look so easy ... This is a novel that one enjoys like comfort food, with delight, all in a rush, and only once it has been consumed does one realise how formidable and nourishing it is, how heavy it sits inside you, a treat you'll be digesting long after you leave the table.' - The Australian\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Rooney's work is undeniably a voice for millennial fiction. My generation. Reading it felt like someone had captured my thoughts (even the secret ones) and made me feel less alone - until it ended, and then it was heartbreaking.' - Annie Brown, Good Weekend, Sydney Morning Herald\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'In Normal People, Sally Rooney essentially gives us a field guide to relating to other humans - with the in-built pleasures of an exceptionally good literary romance.' - Sydney Morning Herald\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'What makes Rooney's books so captivating and impossible to put down is the way she crafts characters and dialogue-at times, the conversations in her books can seem so real that you almost feel like you're eavesdropping on something you shouldn't be.' - Vanity Fair\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'The first great millennial novelist.' - The New Yorker\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sally Rooney","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":47529294758131,"sku":"9780571334650","price":24.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"As New","offer_id":43175075905779,"sku":"9990002812408","price":10.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Very Good","offer_id":47529294790899,"sku":"8880002704173","price":10.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Fair","offer_id":47587456680179,"sku":"8880002830193","price":6.5,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/products\/9780571334650.jpg?v=1662070229"},{"product_id":"this-is-happiness-niall-williams-9781526609359","title":"This Is Happiness","description":"\u003cp\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR THE BEST NOVEL IN THE IRISH BOOK AWARDS\n\u003cbr\u003eLONGLISTED FOR THE 2020 WALTER SCOTT PRIZE\n\u003cbr\u003eBy the author of Four Letters of Love, the international bestseller now a major film starring Helena Bonham Carter and Pierce Brosnan\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'I love this book so passionately' Ann Patchett\n\u003cbr\u003e'Lyrical, tender and sumptuously perceptive' Sunday Times \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAfter dropping out of the seminary, seventeen-year-old Noel Crowe finds himself back in Faha, a small Irish parish where nothing ever changes, including the ever-falling rain.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBut one morning the rain stops and news reaches the parish - electricity is finally arriving. With it comes a lodger to Noel's home, Christy McMahon. Though he can't explain it, Noel knows right then: something has changed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs Noel navigates his coming-of-age, Christy's buried past gradually comes to light, casting a glow on a small world and making it new.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'If you're craving a novel of delicate wit laced with rare insight, this, truly, is happiness' Washington Post\n\u003cbr\u003e'Written with a turn of phrase that makes the reader want to underline something on every page'\n\u003cbr\u003e  Financial Times\n\u003cbr\u003e  'What makes this so compelling and enjoyable is Williams's transparent love of his characters and delight in his setting' Observer\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Niall Williams","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":43176730362099,"sku":"9781526609359","price":22.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/products\/9781526609359.jpg?v=1662088533"},{"product_id":"ulysses-james-joyce-9780141182803","title":"Ulysses","description":"\u003cp\u003e'Everybody knows now that Ulysses is the greatest novel of the century' Anthony Burgess, Observer\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFollowing  the events of one single day in Dublin, the 16th June 1904, and what  happens to the characters Stephen Dedalus, Leopold Bloom and his wife  Molly, Ulysses is a monument to the human condition. It has survived  censorship, controversy and legal action, and even been deemed  blasphemous, but remains an undisputed modernist classic- ceaselessly  inventive, garrulous, funny, sorrowful, vulgar, lyrical and ultimately  redemptive. It confirms Joyce's belief that literature  'is the eternal  affirmation of the spirit of man'.\n\u003cbr\u003e \n\u003cbr\u003e'The most important  expression which the present age has found; it is a book to which we are  all indebted, and from which none of us can escape' T. S. Eliot\n\u003cbr\u003e \n\u003cbr\u003e'Intoxicating ... a towering work, in its word play surpassing even Shakespeare' Guardian\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"James Joyce","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":43176811692275,"sku":"9780141182803","price":24.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/products\/9780141182803.jpg?v=1662089719"},{"product_id":"small-things-like-these-claire-keegan-9780571368709","title":"Small Things Like These","description":"\u003cp\u003e'Exquisite.' Damon Galgut\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Masterly.' The Times\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Miraculous.' Herald\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Astonishing.' Colm Toibin\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Stunning.' Sunday Independent\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Absolutely beautiful.' Douglas Stuart\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA Book of the Year in The Times and The New Statesman\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt is 1985, in an Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal and timber merchant, faces into his busiest season. As he does the rounds, he feels the past rising up to meet him - and encounters the complicit silences of a people controlled by the Church.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'A genuine once-in-a-generation writer.' The Times\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'[A] snowglobe of a story that fits a whole bustling, striving, yearning world into 114 finely wrought pages.' Sunday Times\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Powerful and affecting and very timely . . . deeply moving.' Hilary Mantel\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Stunning . . . A haunting, hopeful masterpiece.' Sinead Gleeson\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Remarkable . . . Truly exquisite.' Daily Telegraph\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'A restrained and intensely moral book, full of hope and love.' Observer\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Marvellous - exact and icy and loving all at once.' Sarah Moss\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Claire Keegan","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":43394313453811,"sku":"9780571368709","price":24.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/products\/9780571368709.jpg?v=1666380759"},{"product_id":"grace-paul-lynch-9781786073464","title":"Grace","description":"\u003cp\u003eEarly one October morning, Grace's mother snatches her from sleep and brutally cuts off her hair, declaring, 'You are the strong one now.' With winter close at hand and Ireland already suffering, Grace is no longer safe at home. And so her mother outfits Grace in men's clothing and casts her out. When her younger brother Colly follows after her, the two set off on a life-changing odyssey in the looming shadow of the Great Famine. To survive, Grace will become a boy, a bandit, a penitent and finally, a woman. A meditation on love, life and destiny, This Time of Light is an epic coming-of-age novel, and a poetic evocation of the Irish famine as it has never been written.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Paul Lynch","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":45387975688435,"sku":"9781786073464","price":22.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9781786073464.jpg?v=1712866415"},{"product_id":"prophet-song-paul-lynch-9780861545896","title":"Prophet Song","description":"\u003cp\u003e'Paul Lynch is peerless' Donal Ryan, author of Strange Flowers\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAn Irish Times 'Book to Look Forward to in 2023'\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA fearless portrait of a society on the brink as a mother faces a terrible choice, from an internationally award-winning author\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOn a dark, wet evening in Dublin, scientist and mother-of-four Eilish Stack answers her front door to find the GNSB on her step. Two officers from Ireland's newly formed secret police are here to interrogate her husband, a trade unionist. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIreland is falling apart. The country is in the grip of a government turning towards tyranny and Eilish can only watch helplessly as the world she knew disappears. When first her husband and then her eldest son vanish, Eilish finds herself caught within the nightmare logic of a collapsing society.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHow far will she go to save her family? And what - or who - is she willing to leave behind?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eExhilarating, terrifying and propulsive, Prophet Song is a work of breathtaking originality, offering a devastating vision of a country at war and a deeply human portrait of a mother's fight to hold her family together.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Paul Lynch","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":45478456721651,"sku":"9780861545896","price":22.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9780861545896.jpg?v=1713484676"},{"product_id":"the-bee-sting-paul-murray-9780241984406","title":"The Bee Sting","description":"\u003cp\u003eIrresistibly funny, wise and thought-provoking, The Bee Sting is a tour de force about family, fortune, and the struggle to be a good person when the world is falling apart\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Barnes family is in trouble. Dickie's once-lucrative car dealership is going under, and while his wife is frantically selling off her jewellery on eBay, he's busy building an apocalypse-proof bunker in the woods. Meanwhile their teenage daughter is veering off the rails, in thrall to a toxic friendship, and her little brother is falling into the black hole of the internet...\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhere did it all go wrong? The present is in crisis but the causes lie deep in the past. How long can this unhappy family wait before they have to face the truth? And if the story has already been written, is there still time to find a happy ending?\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Paul Murray","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":45574971195635,"sku":"9780241984406","price":24.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9780241984406.jpg?v=1714508668"},{"product_id":"that-old-country-music-kevin-barry-9781786891433","title":"That Old Country Music","description":"\u003cp\u003e'One of the best collections you'll read this year' Sunday Times\n\u003cbr\u003e'Wild, witty stories . . . Exhilarating' Observer\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn this rapturous story collection we encounter a ragbag of west of Ireland characters, many on the cusp between love and catastrophe, heartbreak and epiphany, resignation and hope. These stories affirm Kevin Barry as one of the world's most accomplished and gifted writers, and show an Ireland in a condition of great flux but also as a place where older rhythms, and an older magic, somehow persist.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Kevin Barry","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":46001385799923,"sku":"9781786891433","price":24.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9781786891433.jpg?v=1721337805"},{"product_id":"the-gathering-anne-enright-9780099501633","title":"The Gathering","description":"\u003cp\u003eWinner of the Man Booker Prize\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Witty, original, inventive...utterly compelling' Daily Mail\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWinner of the Man Booker Prize\n\u003cbr\u003e \n\u003cbr\u003e The nine surviving children of the Hegarty clan gather in Dublin for the wake of their wayward brother Liam. It wasn't the drink that killed him - although that certainly helped - it was what happened to him as a boy in his grandmother's house, in the winter of 1968.\n\u003cbr\u003e \n\u003cbr\u003e The Gathering is a novel about love and disappointment, about thwarted lust and limitless desire, and how our fate is written in the body, not in the stars.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'It is clearly the product of a remarkable intelligence, combined with a gift for observation and deduction' A.L. Kennedy, Guardian\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Anne Enright","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":46080118391027,"sku":"9780099501633","price":24.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/the-gathering.jpg?v=1773800236"},{"product_id":"apeirogon-colum-mccann-9781526607898","title":"Apeirogon","description":"\u003cp\u003eA NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER\n\u003cbr\u003eLONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE\n\u003cbr\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR THE DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD\n\u003cbr\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR THE PRIX FEMINA AND THE PRIX MEDICIS\n\u003cbr\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR THE GOLDSBORO BOOKS GLASS BELL AWARD\n\u003cbr\u003eWINNER OF THE PRIX DU MEILLEUR LIVRES ETRANGER\n\u003cbr\u003eWINNER OF THE 2020 NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARDS \n\u003cbr\u003eCHOSEN AS A BOOK OF 2020 BY THE SUNDAY TIMES, OBSERVER, GUARDIAN, i PAPER, FINANCIAL TIMES, NEW STATESMAN, SCOTSMAN, IRISH TIMES, BBC.COM, WATERSTONES.COM\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'A wondrous book. It left me hopeful; this is its gift' Elizabeth Strout\n\u003cbr\u003e'An empathy engine ... It is, itself, an agent of change' New York Times Book Review\n\u003cbr\u003e'A quite extraordinary novel' Kamila Shamsie\n\u003cbr\u003e______________________\n\u003cbr\u003eHow do we continue living once we have lost our reason to live?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eRami and Bassam live in the city of Jerusalem - but exist worlds apart, divided by an age-old conflict. And yet they have one thing in common. Both are fathers; both are fathers of daughters - and both daughters are now lost.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhen Rami and Bassam meet, and tell one another the story of their grief, the most unexpected thing of all happens: they become best of friends. And their stories become one story, a story with the power to heal - and the power to change the world.\n\u003cbr\u003e______________________\n\u003cbr\u003e'The book goes anywhere and everywhere. It is a delirious and thrilling improvisation, a jazz solo spun out of that meeting ... A spectacular structure of stories about everything' Bryan Appleyard, Sunday Times\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Colum McCann","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":46144142704883,"sku":"9781526607898","price":22.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"As New","offer_id":46144142737651,"sku":"9990002673269","price":10.5,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Good","offer_id":47063431741683,"sku":"8880002825892","price":7.5,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9781526607898.jpg?v=1725011053"},{"product_id":"the-boy-from-the-sea-garrett-carr-9781035044559","title":"The Boy from the Sea","description":"\u003cp\u003e'Compulsive reading. Compassionate, lyrical and full of devilment' Louise Kennedy, author of Trespasses\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e1973. In a close-knit community on Ireland's west coast, a baby is found abandoned on the beach. Named Brendan Bonnar by Ambrose, the fisherman who adopts him, Brendan will become a source of fascination and hope for a town caught in the storm of a rapidly changing world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAmbrose, a man more comfortable at sea than on land, brings Brendan into his home out of love. But it's a decision that will fracture his family and force him to try to understand himself and those he cares for.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBookended by the arrival and departure of a single mesmerizing boy, Garrett Carr's The Boy From the Sea is an exploration of the ties that make us and bind us, as a family and community move irresistibly towards the future.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Garrett Carr","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":46598441926899,"sku":"9781035044559","price":34.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/blank__215.jpg?v=1736207899"},{"product_id":"topographia-hibernica-blindboy-boatclub-9781529371659","title":"Topographia Hibernica","description":"\u003cp\u003e'Memorable, unsettling and humane' \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eGUARDIAN\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'One of the best books I have ever read' \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eJOHNNY MARR\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'One of the most gifted writers of his generation' \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIRISH TIMES\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDriving with a donkey stuffed in the back seat; jackdaws pecking brains out through the roof of a confessional box; cat piss and astronauts. This is not the world as you see it, but as it is, twisted from the maverick mind of Blindboy Boatclub. These are stories of the strange unsettlings in the souls of men caught in between the past and the possible; stories of heart-blinding rage and disquieting compassion.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBlindboy Boatclub is the essential voice for the Irish condition in the twenty-first century, and in Topographia Hibernica he unravels the knotted threads of humanity, nature and colonisation from a contemporary perspective.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blindboy Boatclub","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":46688534954227,"sku":"9781529371659","price":24.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9781529371659.jpg?v=1739214034"},{"product_id":"fun-and-games-john-patrick-mchugh-9780008517359","title":"Fun and Games","description":"\u003cp\u003eTHE INSTANT TOP 10 IRISH BESTSELLER\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR THE AN POST IRISH BOOK AWARDS 2025\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAN OBSERVER BEST DEBUT NOVELIST OF 2025\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'A triumph ... the funniest novel I've read in years' SALLY ROONEY\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'One of my favourite books of the year' JULIA ARMFIELD\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'A funny and frank coming-of age-drama' OBSERVER\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Gorgeous ... a writer of immense talent' MICHAEL MAGEE\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e John Masterson has no idea what he wants.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt's his last summer on the small island where he has grown up. He should be enjoying the weeks until his exam results come through, but instead he's desperately trying to keep his head down after his mother's nude sext to another man was leaked to the whole island. He's doing his best to distract himself with his Gaelic football ambitions, going out with his mates and a blossoming, sort-of, romance with his slightly older co-worker Amber.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBut soon John must face up to the choices before him: to stand out or fit in and whether to love and let himself be loved, despite, or perhaps because of, the flaws that make us all human.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Welcome to the psyche of a teenage boy in all its humorous and hormonal glory' TELEGRAPH\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Brilliantly written; as evocative as it is funny. Think: the male version of Sally Rooney' VOGUE\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'In 20 years of reviewing, I'm not sure I've read a funnier book, or one I've enjoyed more' DAILY MAIL\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'A brilliant and bittersweet ode to young love, friendship and GAA' IRISH TIMES\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'One of the funniest novels I've read in years ... an utter joy to read' COLIN BARRETT, author of Wild Houses\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'One of my favourite books of the year' JULIA ARMFIELD, author of Private Rites\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Bighearted and boisterous, bursting with life' COLIN WALSH, author of Kala\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eJohn Patrick McHugh's 'Fun and Games' was a Irish top ten bestseller w\/c 2025-04-28.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"John Patrick McHugh","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":46947091251443,"sku":"9780008517359","price":32.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9780008517359.jpg?v=1745956923"},{"product_id":"ordinary-saints-niamh-ni-mhaoileoin-9781786584243","title":"Ordinary Saints","description":"\u003cp\u003e*WINNER OF THE INAUGURAL PFD QUEER FICTION PRIZE*\n\u003cbr\u003e*SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE DISCOVERIES AWARD*\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAn arresting, unmissable debut novel shortlisted for the Women's Prize Discoveries award - an exploration of family, grief, queer identity, and the legacy of the Catholic Church in Ireland.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCan you imagine it? I'd say to them. Can you imagine me there in the front row in Saint Peter's Square? The lesbian sister of a literal saint.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBrought up in a devout household in Ireland, Jay is now living in London with her girlfriend, determined to live day to day and not think too much about either the future or the past. But when she learns that her beloved older brother, who died in a terrible accident, may be made into a Catholic saint, she realises she must at last confront her family, her childhood and herself . . .\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eInspired by the author's own devout upbringing, Ordinary Saints is a brilliant debut novel from a fresh, exciting new voice which asks - who gets to decide how we are remembered - and who we will become?\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Niamh Ni Mhaoileoin","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":47742960697587,"sku":"9781786584243","price":34.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9781786584243.jpg?v=1757452520"},{"product_id":"thirst-trap-grainne-ohare-9781035046201","title":"Thirst Trap","description":"\u003cp\u003eA Most-Anticipated Novel of 2025 - DAZED, Irish Times, RTE\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Hilarious and gut-wrenching' - Alice Slater, author of Death of a Bookseller\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSometimes friends hold you together.\n\u003cbr\u003eSometimes they're why you're falling apart.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMaggie, Harley and Roise are friends on the brink: of triumph, catastrophe, or maybe just finally growing up. Their crumbling Belfast houseshare has been witness to their roaring twenties, filled with questionable one-night stands and ruthless hangovers. But now fault-lines are beginning to show.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe three girls are still grieving the tragic death of their friend, Lydia, whose room remains untouched. Their last big fight hangs heavy over their heads, unspoken since the accident. And now they are all beginning to unravel.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThirst Trap by Grainne O'Hare is a blazing, bittersweet, bitingly funny, and painfully relatable story about the friendships that endure through the very best and the very worst of times.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Like the literary love child of Miranda July and Carrie Fisher, transposed in Belfast - hilarious, smart and chaotic in the best way' - Louise Nealon, author of Snowflake\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eReaders are raving about Thirst Trap:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Made me laugh and cry in equal measure'\n\u003cbr\u003e'Laugh-out-loud funny and deeply moving . . . I loved every page of it.'\n\u003cbr\u003e'Sharp, funny, and deeply relatable'\n\u003cbr\u003e'This book is the moment'\n\u003cbr\u003e'I mourned this being over. It's sad and beautiful and real and messy. It's perfect'\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Grainne O'Hare","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":47829662400755,"sku":"9781035046201","price":34.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9781035046201.jpg?v=1759437904"},{"product_id":"heart-be-at-peace-donal-ryan-9781804994504","title":"Heart, Be at Peace","description":"\u003cp\u003eA stunning lyrical novel from the Number one bestselling author Donal Ryan; with the intimacy of Claire Keegan's Small Things like These or Louise Kennedy's Trespasses. A standalone novel that can also be read as a companion to Donal Ryan's multi-award-winning bestseller, The Spinning Heart. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWINNER OF THE IRISH BOOK OF THE YEAR\n\u003cbr\u003eWINNER OF THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR FICTION\n\u003cbr\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR THE NERO NOVEL OF THE YEAR\n\u003cbr\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR THE KERRY GROUP IRISH NOVEL OF THE YEAR\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Donal Ryan's writing has earned him a place among the greatest names in Irish literature and this lyrical novel speaks to the very heart of modern Irish society.' Maria Dickenson, Chair of the IBA judges\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Beautiful...a book full of love and hope, more needed in these days than ever' Kit de Waal\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'I am blown away by the ambition and scope of this exquisite piece of writing...sublime in both its sentiment and beauty' Rachel Joyce\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSome things can send a heart spinning; others will crack it in two...\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn a small town in rural Ireland, the local people have weathered the storms of economic collapse and are looking towards the future. The jobs are back, the dramas of the past seemingly lulled, and although the town bears the marks of its history, new stories are unfolding.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBut a fresh menace is creeping around the lakeshore and the lanes of the town, and the peace of the community is about to be shattered in an unimaginable way. Young people are being drawn towards the promise of fast money whilst the generation above them tries to push back the tide of an enemy no one can touch...\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTold in twenty-one voices, Heart, be at Peace is a heartfelt, lyrical novel that can be read independently, or as a companion to Donal Ryan's multi-award-winning novel, The Spinning Heart, voted 'The Irish Book of the Decade'.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e*****\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePRAISE FOR DONAL RYAN-\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'One of the finest novelists writing today.' RACHEL JOYCE\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'His paragraphs are unnoticeably beautiful, his heart always on show' ANNE ENRIGHT\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Endlessly surprising and incredibly moving' DAVID NICHOLLS\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'A life-enhancing talent' SEBASTIAN BARRY\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'I would struggle to think of any other Irish author working today who writes with as much compassion as Donal Ryan' LOUISE O'NEILL\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Beautiful, compassionate...Donal Ryan at his inimitable best.' MAGGIE O'FARRELL\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Beautifully poised, sad, poetic and human....I loved every single line.' IAN RANKIN\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'The prose drips like honey off a spoon' SUNDAY TIMES\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eNero Book Awards Shortlisted, 2024\n\u003cbr\u003eAn Post Book Awards, November and December 2024\n\u003cbr\u003eIrish Times bestseller, August 2024\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Donal Ryan","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":47840205635827,"sku":"9781804994504","price":24.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/9781804994504.jpg?v=1759605168"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.harryhartog.com.au\/collections\/irish-books-we-love.oembed","provider":"Harry Hartog Bookseller","version":"1.0","type":"link"}