These Days

by Lucy Caldwell

SJP Lit/PRH

    Belfast in 1941 - a family story in the midst of the bombings. Not for the squeamish, but very well told. An intimate look at three women of the family and the decisions they need to make for themselves while keeping themselves and their loved ones as safe as possible.

If you would like to know more about, or own this book, please check with your local independent bookstore or this great place: bookshop.org. 

In the Morning I'll Be Gone

Rain Dogs

by Adrian McKinty

Blackstone Publishing

    

     The Sean Duffy series of mysteries is set in Northern Ireland around the time of the Troubles. Duffy is a police officer in Carrickfergus, near Belfast. The political situation is not a main character, but is there. You don't need to

read the series in order (I haven't); each book is a separate mystery, 'though some refer back to other solved cases. The stories tend to be intense, the characters very human, the mysteries sometimes bloody and not easily solved, but well worth the effort.

If you would like to know more about, or own this book, please check with your local independent bookstore or this great place: bookshop.org. 

Ghost-Eye

by Amitav Ghosh

FSG/Macmillan

    You don't need to believe in a spiritual dimension, reincarnation, or even like to eat fish in order to fall under the spell of this beautiful novel. It is a family story, a coming of age story and a search for a world that is just beyond our everyday senses. 

If you would like to know more about, or own this book, please check with your local independent bookstore or this great place: bookshop.org. 

Land: A Novel

by Maggie O'Farrell

Knopf/PRH 

      This is such a brilliant novel - warm, magical, funny and heartbreaking. The horrors of the recent Famine and the occupation by the British begin the story of these amazing people who survive by helping each other as much as they can. People starve and others "go away" leaving a very small but strong group on this west Ireland peninsula. Family and land come together to produce something beautiful - a place and a time you'll want to return to often.

If you would like to know more about, or own this book, please check with your local independent bookstore or this great place: bookshop.org. 

The Unicorn Hunters

by Katherine Arden

Del  Rey/PRH

    A lovely adult fairy tale vaguely based on history - featuring castles, knights, strong women, dead women and much sorcery. What the history of Brittany might have been if there had been a bit more enchantment around.

If you would like to know more about, or own this book, please check with your local independent bookstore or this great place: bookshop.org.