Edel Coffey selects books for winter reading…
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As the nights draw in, my reading habits tend to get a little darker too. A new novel from superb mystery writer Jane Casey is just the thing for the encroaching winter chill. While fans of Casey’s brilliant Detective Maeve Kerrigan series are waiting with bated breath for the next instalment (due March 2025), Casey has kindly given us a new standalone novel that is still very much connected to Maeve. THE OUTSIDER (Hemlock Press, €9.81) follows Maeve’s mysterious ex, the undercover cop Rob, who is intent on bringing down a notorious crime family by infiltrating their ranks. Like some of the best crime writers, Casey has an eye on societal change and here she tackles racism and immigration, but we also get new insights into Maeve Kerrigan.
FIRE (Doubleday, €13.99) is the third instalment in John Boyne’s Elements quartet of novellas, which deals with the subject of abuse. Water, Earth and now Fire all approach the subject from differing perspectives – the wife of a perpetrator, a bystander, a victim. The books are all loosely interconnected, so that a minor character from one book might show up in the next book. Fire tells the story of Freya (who appeared briefly in Earth as a member of the jury). She is a successful and wealthy surgeon, but beneath the glossy surface is hidden a dark past that reaches back to a traumatic childhood experience. Boyne asks the question whether cruel abusers are born or created. When Air is released next spring, I plan to go back and read all four in one go.
Genevieve Wheeler’s debut novel ADELAIDE (Head of Zeus, €14.50) comes with breathless praise and is described as perfect for fans of Sally Rooney, Meg Mason and Coco Mellor. This young American author’s debut follows the titular Adelaide, who also happens to be a young American expat living in London, and her love affair with Rory. Adelaide is convinced that Rory is the one but he’s emotionally unavailable and scared of commitment. This is a mature reflection on grief and the age-old and compelling question that women often find themselves asking – how much of themselves should they give to relationships?
Following on from her sumptuous An Invitation To The Kennedys, Emily Hourican returns to the same characters for her latest novel, A KENNEDY AFFAIR (Hachette Ireland, €16.99). When the last book ended, war was about to break out and Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy had left London knowing that the man she loved, Billy Cavendish, could never marry her. But with the devastation of war, life and the rules of society have changed. Kick returns to a blitzed London to work with the Red Cross, and with the hope of reconnecting with Billy. Meanwhile, Lady Brigid Guinness has moved from hosting society dinners to looking after wounded soldiers. When a young Irish girl arrives into the Guinness family, the three women’s lives become entwined as Hourican expertly weaves her elegant fictional magic.
Every new Haruki Murakami novel is cause for celebration. THE CITY AND ITS UNCERTAIN WALLS (Harvill Secker, €25) is Murakami’s first book in six years and sees him return to the landscape of one of his early short stories. In this book, a 45-year-old man is still pining for his teenage girlfriend from his adolescence. In a bid to find her, he sets off on a quest to find the imaginary city where he believes her true self disappeared. So far, so Murakami. You’re either a fan or not, and this novel will infuriate as many as it beguiles with its questioning of memory and reality.
THE TRUNK (Doubleday, €12.99) is a 2015 novel by Korean writer Kim Ryeo-ryeong which is just getting published in translation now because of an imminent Netflix adaptation. The high-concept story follows a 30-something woman, Inji, who starts working for a top-secret corporate matchmaking company that provides short-term contract wives, mostly for wealthy businessmen. Inji has already been married five times and is not looking for love. But when one of her ex-husbands hires her as his contract wife, Inji’s past comes back to haunt her.
Another book in translation is BRIGHTLY SHINING (Grove Press, €15.41), which was a huge success in Scandinavia for its Norwegian author Ingvild Rishøi. A debut novel, the rights have already been sold in 20 international territories and it is being compared to Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These. The story looks at two young sisters whose father is sliding into alcoholism, putting them at risk of being taken into care. As Christmas approaches, in desperation, the girls find their father a job selling Christmas trees, but when he fails to show up, they decide to take it on themselves.
THE HISTORY OF SOUND (Swift Press, €14.99) is a collection of twelve stories by Ben Shattuck, which are elegantly linked throughout this book. The title story is being made into a film starring Paul Mescal and it tells the story of two men who meet in a bar and spend a summer together in Maine. In a linked story set decades later, a woman finds recordings of that summer when she is clearing out her new home in Maine. Artefacts from the past resurface in the present, highlighting how the past is never quite dead but links people through generations.
t’s the season for dark and scary stories and Tramp Press has obligingly stepped up to the plate with a new collection of lost Irish horror stories, part of its “recovered voices” series. YOUR OWN DARK SHADOW (Tramp Press, €16), edited and introduced by academic Jack Fennell, includes lesser-known classic Irish horror stories from writers like William Carleton, Henry de Vere Stacpoole, Mildred Darby and more.
Meanwhile, historian Sarah Clegg takes us on a journey through Europe in midwinter to explore the dark folk tales that inspire the traditions of our festive season. In THE DEAD OF WINTER (Granta, €21.75), Clegg explores the lesser-known Christmas traditions like murderous plays enacted in the Cotswolds or the Nordic Lussinatt festivities, where a young woman is crowned with candles as the martyred St Lucy, who is both a chaste Christian girl and a rampaging witch – fun!
One memoir I am really looking forward to reading is CHER: THE MEMOIR PART ONE (Harper Collins, €18.99), which will be published later this month. Whether you are a fan or not, you will concur Cher’s life has been so eventful her memoirs require two volumes. She was the only woman to top the Billboard charts in seven consecutive decades, she is the winner of an Academy Award (for Moonstruck), an Emmy, a Grammy and a Cannes Film Festival Award, and she is an inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Part One follows her beginnings in life, from her childhood as a dyslexic girl who dreamed of becoming famous and her often chaotic family life, to her meeting and marrying Sonny Bono and their complicated relationship that made them world famous. Part Two will follow in 2025.
ROYALLY GOOD READS
As Jilly Cooper’s Rivals gets a long-overdue modern-day adaptation, we are in the mood for some aristocratic reads. Charlotte Coote’s interior design book The Flower Room is a beautiful guide to creating interiors inspired by nature. It covers colour, pattern, florals and botanicals, textiles and, of course, how to work with actual flowers and foliage. Coote was born into the family business – her father was the Australian designer John Coote (late of Bellamont Forest in Cavan) who was known for his high-profile international design projects. India Hicks writes the foreword for The Flower Room (incidentally her father David and Charlotte’s father were great friends) and she has her own fascinating book out at the moment, a biography of her mother, Lady Pamela. Lady Pamela Mountbatten, to give her her full name, is a member of the British Royal family. Hicks explores her mother’s life of privilege and all the challenges that came with it. What elevates this biography is Hicks’ personal perspective on her mother’s character and their relationship.
Crown Princess of Greece, Marie Chantal, has put her extensive knowledge into a book, Manners Begin At Breakfast. Etiquette guides may seem archaic but good manners are never out of style! Marie Chantal emphasises the importance of good manners in making a positive first impression, as well as in building relationships and respect. She even offers relatable advice on the contemporary minefield that is social media.
Finally, Craig Brown’s book A Voyage Around The Queen takes a look at one of the best-known figures of the 20th century, the late Queen Elizabeth II, in this entertaining collection of essays.
