The Living

By Léan Cullinan

Atlantic Books

Here in Irish Country Living, we love debut novels, especially from Irish writers. Certainly Léan Cullinan doesn’t disappoint. For a new writer she gets right into the heart of Irish politics, but in an accessible and entertaining manner, tackling the troubles in Northern Ireland.

The Living tells the story of Cate, a young graduate from Trinity who begins working for an eccentric publisher after finishing college. This isn’t exactly her great life plan but you’d question if she has one.

Her life is a bit of a mish mash and when she isn’t out with friends, she is rehearsing with the Carmina Urbana choir. Forget online dating, it’s here that Cate meets the attractive Matthew and, you guessed it, they fall for each other.

It’s not all smooth sailing though. Matthew is a quiet Englishman who seems to be harbouring a secret, while Cate’s family has republican ties, making the relationship a bit fraught.

Insert a secret package related to the book that her company is working on, a dark car that seems to be following her, and this all culminates in a dramatic choir performance in Belfast.

This book is quite interesting because, although it’s set in present day, it gives us a powerful insight into our troubled past. Its careful fusion of eras shows how past events – and all the lies and deception that went with them – can impact on life now.

Léan builds an amicable character in Cate and she really develops as the book progresses. As a reader, we didn’t get that sense as much with Matthew. In fact, we really didn’t feel like we got to know him at all. Perhaps this was the writer’s intent though, to reflect these evasive features in the character itself.

However, the real strength of this debut novel is Léan’s courage in tackling a subject that is still very close to people’s hearts.

We think author Anne Enright summed this up nicely when she wrote: “This book would not have been possible 10 years ago, when the story of Irish republicanism was still mired in secrecy, pride and shame.”

Everybody has Something to Hide

By Deborah Moggach

Penguin

In this book, Irish Country Living enjoyed moving beyond the Irish setting to the warmth of Texas. From there, Deborah Moggach, author of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, swept us to Africa. In Everybody has Something to Hide, we meet Petra, a warm, likeable character who unfortunately has been very unlucky in love.

When she falls for Jeremy you think that now that she is in her 60s maybe she has got it right – until you realise that her new man is actually her best friend’s husband.

Of course, to make matters worse, Petra finds herself catapulted to west Africa and to her best friend Bev, who she’s been betraying so spectacularly.

Add in two sub-plots where we meet Lorrie, a Texan lady who is about to embark on the biggest deception of her life, and China Li-Jing, who is trying to understand exactly what her husband does on his west African trips, and you begin to really understand the title – Everybody has Something to Hide.

The Ballymara Road

By Nadine Dorries

Head of Zeus

For those that have been looking forward to the final instalment in Nadine Dorries’ trilogy, the wait is over. The Ballymara Road follows on from the success of The Four Streets which sold 300,000 copies in just six months and held the number one spot on Amazon for five weeks.

This was followed by the continued success of Hide Her Name. And so the third instalment, The Ballymara Road, opens on Christmas Day in 1963 as 15-year-old Kitty Doherty gives birth in a hostile convent in Co Galway.

As the baby presents a huge danger to her family’s Catholic community back in Liverpool, the baby is given up for adoption. The problem is solved when a wealthy American family take the baby under their wing, or so Kitty thinks. When the baby becomes sick, it is clear that only his birth mother can save him.

This plot cleverly feeds into the story back on the streets of Liverpool. Things seemed to have calmed down as the police are close to solving their double murder, which rocked the Four Streets to the core, but now all that is at risk again.

A real page-turner, spanning two countries during an era that was still very conservative, it’s a book that you could happily read on its own but it will answer those lingering questions that fans may have.