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Reading lists

4 Irish books we can’t wait to read this Spring

Book covers for My Coney Island Baby, MUSIC LOVE DRUGS WAR, Ann Devine: Ready for Her Close-Up, The Wych Elm, The Fire Starters and Her Kind

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6 Irish fiction books to look out for in 2019

‘Original and exciting, terrifying and hilarious’ Sunday Times Ireland

The Raptures

Absolutely MAGNIFICENT: dark, witty, charming. I LOVED it

Heart-rending, hilarious . . . It's a belter.

An Agatha Christie-esque whodunnit, a dark supernatural mystery and an account of mass trauma. Carson forges these parts into a tragicomedy in which fantastic elements slot almost seamlessly alongside kitchen-sink realism...compassionate and meticulously observed.'

Original and vivid, The Raptures is its own beautiful, unique thing

The book's beauty comes from its hilarious depiction of claustrophobic small-town life

An utterly compulsive and gripping portrayal of the brilliance of children, the power of intergenerational relationships, and the certainty of our human desire to belong. An utterly engrossing read - one that confronts the trauma of loss and the dangers of religious zealotry through powerful narrative, compelling characters and sharp wit. Jan Carson is a true original. An absolute must read. Outstanding.

The Raptures is a wonderful piece of fiction. It engages the reader with a clever plot and with its perfect portrayal of parochial life in Northern Ireland imploded by tragedy told in prose that shimmers with empathy, warmth and humanity.

A fascinating tale of trauma, fury and panic.

I gobbled up The Raptures. It's a delightful read - sharp, packed with wit and heart, and always utterly absorbing. And it's got that perfectly Irish mix of darkness and humour, the smartarsed wink into the void.

A blistering account of small-town Ulster life, The Raptures is unflinching in its exploration of the corrosive effects of fear and small-mindedness on a community, and the trauma wreaked by uncompromising religious fundamentalism on a young and tender soul. Rich in a glorious colloquial idiom, rich with Jan Carson's sharp, sardonic wit, it is ultimately a hopeful read, too, about the ways - whether we like it or not - we are all connected. This is a book written from the guts and from the heart.

An original and exciting work that's equal parts terrifying, hilarious and memorable... It is truly one of those books in which every piece fits together like the cogs of a watch.

Hilarious and heartbreaking in equal measure, The Raptures is a very special novel. Jan Carson is a writer of astounding empathy, giving every character - alive or dead - a voice that rings brilliantly true. A real gem.

This superb book deserves all the plaudits and praise going.

Jan has such a singular voice; she is somehow able to write gently and playfully about the largest, most timely and tragic of topics. Here she has conjured a scenario that feels both very true and very mysterious. I adored it.

The Raptures is perfect and generous and beautifully crafted and everything I demand from a book. And Hannah, brave and brilliant Hannah -- I've made up a room for her in my heart forever. I'll be putting it in every hand this Christmas.

An instantly compelling and novel take on a fractured society, The Raptures is a captivating, clever book by a truly original writer

Jan Carson is a writer and community arts facilitator based in Belfast. Her first novel, Malcolm Orange Disappears, was published in 2014 to critical acclaim, followed by a short-story collection, Children's Children (2016), and two flash fiction anthologies, Postcard Stories (2017) and Postcard Stories 2 (2020). Her second novel, The Fire Starters (2019), won the EU Prize for Literature and was shortlisted for the Dalkey Novel of the Year Award and her third novel, The Raptures (2022) was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards Novel of the Year and the Kerry Group Novel of the Year. Her work has appeared in numerous journals and on BBC Radio 3 and 4. She has won the Harper's Bazaar short-story competition and has been shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award, the An Post Irish Short Story of the Year, and the Seán Ó Faoláin Short Story Prize. She specializes in running arts projects and events with older people, especially those living with dementia.

When several children from the same village start succumbing to a mysterious illness, the quest to discover the cause has devastating and extraordinary consequences. 
 
'Absolutely MAGNIFICENT: dark, witty, charming. I LOVED it.' MARIAN KEYES 
 
'Utterly absorbing' LISA MCINERNEY 
 
'Heart-rending, hilarious . . . it's a belter' LOUISE KENNEDY 
 
'Blistering...glorious...written from the guts and from the heart.' LUCY CALDWELL 
 
'An original and exciting work that's equal parts terrifying, hilarious and memorable.' SUNDAY TIMES 
 
It is late June in Ballylack. Hannah Adger anticipates eight long weeks' reprieve from school, but when her classmate Ross succumbs to a violent and mysterious illness, it marks the beginning of a summer like no other. 
 
As others fall ill, questions about what - or who - is responsible pitch the village into conflict and fearful disarray. Hannah is haunted by guilt as she remains healthy while her friends are struck down. Isolated and afraid, she prays for help. 
 
Elsewhere in the village, tempers simmer, panic escalates and long-buried secrets threaten to emerge. 
 
Bursting with Carson's trademark wit, profound empathy and soaring imagination, The Raptures explores how tragedy can unite a small community - and tear it apart. At its heart is the extraordinary resilience of one young girl. As the world crumbles around her, she must find the courage to be different in a place where conforming feels like the only option available. 
 
Darkly funny, highly inventive and deeply moving, The Raptures is an unmissable novel of 2022.

The Last Resort

'Profoundly imagined characters, spiced with the off-kilter and deliciously mad . . . a work of great empathy and imagination' THE IRISH TIMES 
 
The season's just begun at Seacliff Caravan Park, but none of the residents are having a good time. 
 
 
Frankie is haunted by his daughter's death. Vidas, homeless and far from Lithuania, seeks sanctuary in an abandoned caravan. Anna struggles to shake off the ghost of her overbearing mother. Kathleen struggles to accept her daughter for who she is. Malcolm, a failed illusionist, makes one final attempt to reinvent himself. Agatha Christie-obsessed Alma faces her toughest case yet as she tries to help them all find what they've lost. 
 
With trademark wit and playfulness, in this stunning linked short-story collection Jan Carson explores complex family dynamics, ageing, immigration, gender politics, the decline of the Church and the legacy of the Troubles. The Last Resort firmly places Carson as one of the most inventive and daring writers of her generation. 
 
 
'One of the most exciting and original Northern Irish writers of her generation' SUNDAY TIMES

Profoundly imagined characters, spiced with the off-kilter and deliciously mad . . . a work of great empathy and imagination - The Irish Times

. . . stories filled with wit and humanity - Irish Independent

The season's just begun at Seacliff Caravan Park, but none of the residents are having a good time. Frankie is haunted by his daughter's death. Vidas, homeless and far from Lithuania, seeks sanctuary in an abandoned caravan. Anna struggles to shake off the ghost of her overbearing mother. Kathleen struggles to accept her daughter for who she is. Malcolm, a failed illusionist, makes one final attempt to reinvent himself. Agatha Christie-obsessed Alma faces her toughest case yet as she tries to help them all find what they've lost. 
 
 
With trademark wit and playfulness, in this stunning linked short-story collection Jan Carson explores complex family dynamics, ageing, immigration, gender politics, the decline of the Church and the legacy of the Troubles. The Last Resort firmly places Carson as one of the most inventive and daring writers of her generation.

The Fire Starters

From a prize-winning rising star in Irish fiction comes this brilliant, dark, propulsive literary novel about fierce familial love and sacrifice.

Gripping, affecting, surprising. I inhaled it.

Spectacular . . . Dark, beautiful, at once grittily real and wildly magical. Insanely alluring.

Blew me away with its power, anger and wit.

A big and rambunctious novel that casts a cold satirical eye on themes such as language, culture, identity, sectarianism, and the terrifying proximity of the past

Sunday Times, 50 Greatest Irish Novels of the 21st Century

Shimmering with wit, simmering with an incandescent rage, shot through with a seam of wild magic, The Fire Starters is a powerful, disturbing portrait of East Belfast and its people and its hope for the future. I won’t be the only reader to proclaim that, in the best way possible, Jan Carson is on fire.

Carson's playfulness delights again and again, even as she explores her city's darkest corners. Sound the siren: this novel truly burns bright

Jan Carson seems to have invented a new Belfast in this gripping, surprising, exhilarating novel.

With her idiosyncratic blend of warm intelligence, dark humour, and magic realism, Jan Carson brings us a singular portrait of a city and its people struggling with questions of guilt, responsibility, and the limits of love.

A perfect mix of dark humour, magic and social commentary.

A brilliant, wry novel, fizzing with energy

With a caustic wit and lyrical prose style, The Fire Starters is a rumination on fatherhood, identity, culture and place ... it marks out Carson as one of the most exciting and original Northern Irish writers of her generation

Caoilinn Hughes, author of THE ORCHID AND THE WASP

Both a fiercely gripping thriller and a beautifully twisted fable, The Fire Starters is an electrifying blast of Belfast Gothic: a luminous, furious vision of a city at war with itself.

Wow. Hypnotic, alluring, perfectly vivid.

Henrietta McKervey, author of Violet Hill

Breathtaking ... The best book I read this year

Characteristically inventive, Carson throws into fresh relief the complexities of familial relationships

A playful study of fatherhood and the still-flickering flames of the conflict in Northern Ireland . . . hugely and pleasingly reminiscent of Salman Rushdie’s fabulist take on the partition of India, Midnight’s Children.

Unusual, mystical and so sublimely written, I read it in a single sitting

The writing here is incredible - a breath-taking novel

Spectacular... Dark, beautiful, at once grittily real and wildly magical, insanely alluring - a siren-song of a novel.

Jan Carson is a writer and community arts facilitator based in Belfast. Her first novel, Malcolm Orange Disappears, was published in 2014 to critical acclaim, followed by a short story collection, Children’s Children (2016), and a flash fiction anthology, Postcard Stories (2017). Her work has appeared in numerous journals and on BBC Radio 3 and 4. In 2016 she won the Harper’s Bazaar short story competition and was shortlisted for the Seán Ó Faoláin Short Story Prize. She specializes in running arts projects and events with older people, especially those living with dementia. The Fire Starters is her second novel.

**WINNER of the EU Prize for Literature** 
 
'One of the most exciting and original Northern Irish writers of her generation' SUNDAY TIMES 
 
'Gripping, affecting, surprising. I inhaled it' LISA MCINERNEY 
 
'Captivating, intelligent and courageous' IRISH TIMES 
 
'Spectacular. At once grittily real, wildly magical and insanely alluring - a siren-song of a novel.' DONAL RYAN 
 
'Jan Carson seems to have invented a new Belfast in this gripping, surprising, exhilarating novel.' RODDY DOYLE 
 
'Blew me away with its power, anger and wit.' JOSEPH O'CONNOR 
 
Dr Jonathan Murray fears his new-born daughter is not as harmless as she seems. 
 
Sammy Agnew is wrestling with his dark past, and fears the violence in his blood lurks in his son, too. 
 
The city is in flames and the authorities are losing control. As matters fall into frenzy, and as the lines between fantasy and truth, right and wrong, begin to blur, who will these two fathers choose to protect? 
 
Dark, propulsive and thrillingly original, this tale of fierce familial love and sacrifice fizzes with magic and wonder.

Children's Children

Jan Carson

‘Jan Carson is a born storyteller: her work is so imaginative, whimsical, mischievous and brave, but tender and curious too — you never know where she's going to take you next, so reading her is always an adventure. Exactly how it should be.’ LISA MCINERNEY, author of THE GLORIOUS HERESIES 
 
------In sixteen sparkling stories, Jan Carson introduces us to worlds and characters that feel real enough to touch. All of life is here: the thrill of growing up, the grief when youth is over; first love, mature love, parenthood and loss - all shot through with profound compassion, warm wit, and boundless imagination. 
 
In 'A Certain Degree of Ownership', a distracted couple on a beach fail to notice their baby crawl perilously towards the sea. In 'Troubling the Water', a rumour spreads at a public swimming pool and chaos ensues. In 'Fair Play' a dishevelled father loses his two sons in an adventure park. 
 
Every so often, an irresistible suggestion of the other world will surprise and delight, reaffirming Carson as a thrillingly original and audacious talent, and making Quickly, While They Still Have Horses the perfect introduction for readers new to her work.

Jan Carson

Quickly, While They Still Have Horses

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