Bedside Table: What Is Author Rebecca Ivory Reading?

Rebecca Ivory shares her current reading list …

The Irish short story writer recently published her debut collection, Free Therapy, with Jonathan Cape. Her fiction has appeared in The Stinging Fly, Banshee Press, The Tangerine and Fallow Media.

“At the moment, I’m reading In Ordinary Time, by Carmel McMahon. I was immediately captured by this memoir, which also serves as an overview of Irish history, the echoes of Celtic history, and the lasting impression of colonialism. This book demonstrates the impact of the Church-State alliance, drawing on Carmel’s own mother’s experience of becoming an unmarried mother in the 1960s, and how the consequences of this secret crisis could have traumatic ripples throughout a family. I love writing that explores the relationship between mother and daughter and Carmel does this with such grace and skill. She also writes fluently about the alienation of class division, mourning the loss of siblings as a child and an adult, addiction and recovery, as well as the complexity of being pulled abroad by the promise of opportunity while also viscerally missing Ireland during her time in New York. If you enjoyed Amy Key’s Arrangements in Blue, as I did, I think In Ordinary Time could prove to be similarly moving and compelling.

For some reason I’m particularly interested in non-fiction at the moment, as I’m also looking forward to reading Naomi Klein’s Doppelgänger, as well as Poverty Creek Journal: On Life and Running, by Thomas Gardner. I love writing, reading and running, and for me, I rely on all three to feel like myself. I’m excited to read Gardner’s essays, presented as 52 entries about running in his local nature reserve, and his reflections on grief and ageing, which have been described as profoundly moving. In fiction, I’m also really looking forward to reading Cathy Sweeney’s Breakdown, as I loved her short story collection Modern Times, as well as How To Be Somebody Else by Miranda Pountney.”