What I read in December...
The Wren, The Wren by Anne Enright
Anne Enright is one of those novelists where I almost forget how good she is, and I get a shock every time I read one of her books. Do you know what I mean? I’m like, yeah, it’s Anne Enright, she’s a living legend, of course she’s brilliant, and then I read her latest novel and I’m blown away once again by how brilliant she is. (Please tell me in the comments if this is making sense?!) The Wren, The Wren is told in three voices – the mother, Carmel, the daughter, Nell, and the man who casts a shadow over both their lives, Phil, the famous Irish poet who abandoned his family in search for fame and fortune in the States. A review in the Guardian called it “ruthless, raw stuff” and I have to agree.
Hot Little Hands by Abigail Ulman
I came across this collection of short stories in a book roundup on Pandora Sykes newsletter. (Very much recommend subscribing.) Hot Little Hands was written in 2016 and it does feel like a perfect snapshot of that time. All the protagonists are young women, either in their teens and their early twenties, and the stories are both tender and brutal. Like Pandora, the one about the Russian gymnast has haunted me ever since I read it, the twist at the end breathtaking and horrifying all at once.
Under Your Spell by Laura C Wood
Laura writes the most perfect historical romances – the vibe is usually very much I Capture The Castle – and I ADORE them. I insist you go and read her entire back catalogue immediately. As far as I’m aware, Under Your Spell is her first contemporary romance and it’s SO GOOD. The set-up is amazing: Clementine Monroe is the estranged daughter of one of the most famous rockstars in the world. She hates everything about that world, she is positively allergic to celebrity. Then she gets a new job, where she has to spend six weeks alone with a RIDE of a man, the very famous – you guessed it! – rock star, Theo Elliott.
I read this in one sitting. It’s one giant swoon of a novel, impossibly romantic and sweet and uplifting.
Long Island by Colm Tóibín
This is the sequel to Tóibín’s smash hit, Brooklyn, which was adapted into an Oscar nominated film starring Saoirse Ronan. Ever heard of her, etc. Long Island reunites us with Eilis Lacey, twenty years on, now living in Long Island with her husband Tony and their two children. Within the first couple of pages of the book, Eilis is hit with life-altering news, prompting her to return home to Ireland for the first time in decades.
This is such a *readable* book. Brooklyn was often compared to Maeve Binchy and that warmth and humanity carries through to Long Island. I stayed awake until 1am finishing it (not exactly a common sentiment with literary fiction, would we agree?) because I was utterly engaged. There are elements of the plot that I found frustrating* but the writing is predictably lovely, and I was very happy to be back in Eilis’s world. It’s gorgeous.
*which has honestly more to do with me than the book. It reminded me of reading The Ballroom of Romance in college and an American student saying she felt frustrated with Bridie, the main character. “I just wanted her to learn how to drive, move to Dublin and get a job!” she kept saying lol
The Late Americans by Brandon Taylor
I had read and loved Filthy Animals, Taylor’s 2021 short story collection, so I was excited to read this. I love a college campus novel, and this one deftly explores the tensions between the students in a small university town and the local ‘townies’. It’s beautifully written but it does feel like a collection of short stories more than a novel. There are also a lot of characters, and I kept getting confused (which is on me again!) Still, there are few writers exploring race, class, money, art, and sex the way Taylor is. I can’t wait to see what he does next.
Bride by Ali Hazelwood
This is very much not my normal thing – a supernatural romance about the alliance between werewolves and vampires?! – but given how much I love Ali Hazelwood’s other romance novels, I was excited to get a proof of this. I wasn’t disappointed. It was SO SEXY. Hazelwood always deserves capital letters, I’m sorry. Like, a vampire sucking blood as a metaphor for sex is not new and yet it was still ridiculously hot. Pre-order this immediately, trust me.
Holiday Romance by Catherine Walsh
I wanted something easy-breezy for Christmas Day itself and this fit the bill perfectly. It’s such a cute concept –two Irish ex pats living in Chicago find themselves on the same flight home to Dublin every Christmas Eve. They become friends and then, one year, when it looks like they might not make it home in time, will they become something more? I mean, lol, of course they do. It’s a romance novel, come on! This would make such a good movie, Reese Witherspoon needs to get on it.
Pity Party by Daisy Buchanan
I adored Daisy’s first two books, Insatiable and Careering – she has this ability to write sexy books that are also very insightful about what it’s like to be a woman today. That sounds a bit lofty which the books are not; they’re a lot of fun to read. The same is true of Pity Party which is about a young woman whose husband dies suddenly, and who goes on a wellness retreat in order to heal. It’s both deeply moving and very amusing, which isn’t the easiest combination to pull off. Read Daisy’s other books in preparation for this, I promise you’ll love them.
Things We Do Not Tell The People We Love by Huma Qureshi
Every year, my mother/Santa buys me two books and every year, she somehow manages to find me incredible books that I haven’t read yet. No mean feat given how many novels I am sent! This collection of short stories was one of my presents this year and I fucking loved it. There’s a lot in this about mother and daughter relationships, which felt apt, and it’s poignant and affecting. What a beautiful writer Qureshi is…
Green Dot by Madeleine Grey
I begged the publisher for a proof copy of this book when I saw Elizabeth Day describe it as “one of the best books you will read all year”. It’s about Hera, a woman in her early 20s, who takes a job as a comment moderator at a news website. It’s there she meets Arthur, an older – and married – journalist and begins an affair with him. It’s credit to Grey’s writing that in her hands, an age-old story of infidelity between a young woman and an older man feels fresh and exciting. Sentence by sentence, this book is close to perfection. It’s razor sharp, hilarious, and so, so clever. It’s going to be a smash hit.
Old Romantics by Maggie Armstrong
Another collection of short stories! I usually read novels so it’s rare to have read three collections in one month and yet all three were phenomenal. This debut collection will be published by Tramp Press, and it has been described as the Irish answer to Kristen Roupenian (she of Cat Person fame). I couldn’t agree more. These stories follow ‘Margaret’, a Dublin woman, from young adulthood into motherhood, detailing obsessive love and terrible dates and loneliness and isolation. They are SO funny and awkward and honest and perceptive and shrewd. I think this is a very exciting new voice in Irish fiction – we really do punch above our weight, don’t we?! I loved it.
In Her Place by Edel Coffey
Edel Coffey has a knack for writing books with an absolute killer concept at their core. Her first novel, Breaking Point, is about a successful doctor and mother of two who, on the hottest day of the year in New York, accidentally leaves her baby in the back seat of her car. Her second novel is about Ann, a woman in her late thirties, who meets the handsome, wealthy Justin. He has a daughter and a wife, but Deborah has been in a coma for a long time and doesn’t have much time left to live. After Ann and Justin fall in love, they received the news that Deborah’s drug trial has been a success. She is coming home. What is Ann going to do now?
In Her Place has so many twists and turns, I genuinely didn’t know what was going to happen next. It’s a thought-provoking thriller with a brilliant premise – this one is going to be a Book Club favourite in 2024!