I chose this book of short stories because I loved
Caldwell's winning entry for the 2021 British National Story Award: "All the
People Were Mean and Bad" included in this book.
This story focuses on an encounter between
the mother and an attentive man in the next seat who fetches milk for the hungry
child. We learn she's an architect, lonely and yearning to return to her
profession, dreading becoming pregnant again, as her husband is often away.
As
I read this book on a flight to Crete, I observed a baby being nursed by an
extended family, each taking turns to amuse the little one. And I thought, if
only all parents had such loving support to help them cope.
*Includes the winner of the 2021 BBC National Short Story Award*
'Smart, nuanced and sometimes heart-stopping.' Anne Enright 'Outstanding.' Guardian 'Eleven perfect stories.' Irish Independent 'Glorious.' The Times 'My FAVE collection ever.' Pandora Sykes
In eleven stories, Intimacies exquisitely charts the steps and missteps of young women trying to find their place in the world. From a Belfast student ordering illegal drugs online to end an unwanted pregnancy to a young mother's brush with mortality, and from a Christmas Eve walking the city centre streets when everything seems possible, to a night flight from Canada which could change a lifeā¦
In 2003-4 I spent a year in the British Army between school and university. Ten years later, having become a journalist, I returned to investigate what a decade of war had done to the institution I knew as an adolescent. In the years I spent researching and writing The Changing of the Guard I read reams of non-fiction. However, novels retain an ability to hit wider ā or harder truths ā and some of our greatest writers have fictionalised British Army life. Here is a selection of British Army novels, well-known and less so. They take in conflicts ranging from the First and Second World Wars through to Northern Ireland and Afghanistan.
I found this novel on a secondhand stall in Kenya when I was 18 or 19 and devoured it. Little known today, it was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and later adapted by the BBC.
Judd relates a tour by a fictional British Army unit in Northern Ireland in some of the most violent days of the Troubles in the 1970s. The protagonist, Charles Thoroughgood, is an Oxford graduate at a time when most army officers were school leavers, and the book chants his increasing disillusionment.
My early edition featured on the cover ā next to a crouching individual in combats toting a pistol on a lanyard ā an endorsement from Jack Higgins: āQuite simply one of the best novels of army life Iāve read in years.ā Higgins was right.
FROM THE HIGHLY ACCLAIMED AUTHOR OF LEGACY AND ACCIDENTAL AGENT
After university and Sandhurst, Charles Thoroughgood has now joined the Assault Commandos and is on a four-month tour of duty in Armagh and Belfast. The thankless task facing him and his men -- to patrol the tension-filled streets through weeks of boredom punctuated by bursts of horror -- takes them through times of tragedy, madness, laughter and terror.
Alan Judd tells Thoroughgood's tale with verve, compassion and humour. The result is an exceptionally fine novel which blends bitter human incident with army farce.
The brief scenario on the book's cover reminded me of a classic
Agatha Christie novel. Neither Miss Marple nor Hercule Poirot, however,
were among the guests gathered at a remote hotel on the North Devon
coast for a New Year's Eve murder mystery game devised by a member of
staff.
I was not surprised that make-believe quickly became fact, nor that everyone presentāguests and staffāwould have a motive. My attention was gripped by the many twists and turns in the story,
linked to an old lighthouse and two deaths in the nearby village years
earlier.
I didn't guess the identity of the murderer until
revealed in the last few pages, but in retrospect, I realised that
subtle clues had been placed in the narrative.
Thirty years earlier, Smith was a British officer in Belfast, undercover
with the IRA. He barely escaped with his life when his cover was blown, and he's
had no contact with anyone there since, including people he'd grown to love. That
changes when a young Belfastian tracks him down, blaming him for the disappearance
(unbeknownst to Smith) of his uncle right after Smith fled. Smith returns to
Belfast to try to discover what happened that night.
The story emerges as Smith
risks his life to confront and question members of the IRA cell he betrayed.
Two weeks of rest and recuperation ā thatās what the doctor ordered. Detective Sergeant DC Smith could listen to some music, make some of his own and maybe even catch up on his reading; he is almost looking forward to it. And then there is a knock on the door. Itās only his next-door neighbour but it is the beginning of a sequence of events that will bring him face to face with some of the darkest episodes and the most dangerous people from his own past. This is Smithās fifth investigation but this time itās personal.
Iāve always read and loved crime fiction ā so much so I did a doctorate in it. I believe good crime fiction has the capacity to explore particular societies, places, and times in interesting and enjoyable ways. I also like crime fictionās focus on character, and particularly in crime series which show a character evolving over time. Thatās why I chose the theme of āflawed detectiveā and thatās what Iām trying to do in my Schalk Lourens series, of whichPresent Tenseis the first. I hope you enjoy it, and also the other books Iāve recommended here.
Ireland again, this time in the 80s, and right in the middle of the Troubles. Adrian McKintyās cop, Sean Duffy, is an outsider, a Catholic in a Protestant police force. Heās irreverent, sarcastic, bitter, and a more than occasional drug user. InPolice at the Station(6th in the series) Duffy investigates the murder of a small-time heroin dealer, whoās been shot by a crossbow. Meanwhile his posh girlfriend wants to moveā¦the Sean Duffy novels are tough, funny, exciting, and extremely well done. Enjoy!
Another thrilling mystery featuring Detective Sean Duffy and his most dangerous investigation yet
Belfast, 1988. A man is found dead, killed with a bolt from a crossbow in front of his house. This is no hunting accident. But uncovering who is responsible for the murder will take Detective Sean Duffy down his most dangerous road yet, a road that leads to a lonely clearing on a high bog where three masked gunmen will force Duffy to dig his own grave.
Hunted by forces unknown, threatened by Internal Affairs, and with his relationship on the rocks,ā¦
I always look for an escape from reality, but itās not always because the world gets exhausting and I need a change of scenery. Sometimes, Iām looking to learn. As an autistic person, people can be very confusing to me. I love a book that throws something new at me to try and figure out how a certain person functions, or why they think/feel the way they do, and if I canāt do it on my own, I can discuss the book with friends and family and create a discussion through the medium of storytelling and novel writing. Autism can be very debilitating at times, so an escape is always a handy thing to have!
An epic love story. This novel explores a Catholic and a Protestant trying to be together when it was once inequivocally frowned upon. A huge hurdle that tries to prevent love from flourishing. And whatās a story without some kind of love angle in there somewhere? No one can know what they do, so starting a relationship with someone out with the organisation isnāt an option. Unless theyāre lucky enough to find love with one of the other members, their fate was sealed when they signed their life away.
An engaging classroom playscript. Kevin is Catholic. Sadie is Protestant. In Belfast they are supposed to be enemies - so what chance do they have when they fall in love?
Born to Irish parents in London, the conflict in Northern Ireland was a subject of discussion (but not debate) throughout my childhood. My understanding of the conflict was shaped by the distance we were from it and the (often romanticized) history of Ireland that was shared with me. I then spent many years studying the conflict and found myself agreeing with the view of Paul Anderson (used as the epigram to a book I chose for this list), āI have yet to see any problem, however complicated, which when you looked at it the right way did not become still more complicated.ā But I believe we still need to look.
Michael Mageeās novel is a cracking exploration of life in contemporary Belfast. The examination of a young manās quest to find some direction and economic stability whilst working in precarious employment had me hooked from the outset. His attempts to deal with the fall-out from a casual act of violence and his romantic/friendship dilemmas seemed to sum up well the struggles many faced in their early 20s, between university and their āfutureā (alas, a distant memory for me now).
So far, so rite of passage-y. But what I think makes the book an informative read on Northern Ireland and its conflict is the fact that the impact of that violent period is an ever-present but infrequently acknowledged factor in a book set 30 years after the violence (largely) ended. When it does appear in the novel, it is often unheralded, disruptive, and fleeting. This made me reflect on the extentā¦
WINNER OF THE ROONEY PRIZE FOR LITERATURE 2023 WINNER OF THE NERO BOOK AWARD FOR DEBUT FICTION 2023 WINNER OF THE JOHN MCGAHERN PRIZE 2024 WATERSTONES IRISH BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023
Sean is back. Back in Belfast and back into old habits. Back on the mad all-nighters, the borrowed tenners and missing rent, the casual jobs that always fall through. Back in these scarred streets, where the promised prosperity of peacetime has never arrived. Back among his brothers, his ma, and all the things they never talk about. Until one night Sean finds himself at a party - dog-tired,ā¦
This is one of the best detective series Iāve read since Bosch.
There is something about Detective Sean Duffy that I find utterly fascinating. He has a personal sense of justice (like Bosch), and he has an intense desire to see it applied no matter the cost. And as a Catholic policeman in a Protestant system, the tension of being this one-man island is heavy.
The entire series is set during "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland, which makes for an exciting backdrop. I always like books that mix in history like this. I had fun jumping into Wikipedia as I encountered unfamiliar historical events.
The writing is fantastic, and I blew through all seven books in the series in just two weeks.
Fast-paced, evocative, and brutal, The Cold Cold Ground is a brilliant depiction of Belfast at the height of the Troubles -- and of a cop treading a thin, thin line.
Northern Ireland, spring 1981. Hunger strikes, riots, power cuts, a homophobic serial killer with a penchant for opera, and a young womanās suicide that may yet turn out to be murder: on the surface, the events are unconnected, but then things -- and people -- arenāt always what they seem. Detective Sergeant Duffy is the man tasked with trying to get to the bottom of it all. Itās no easyā¦
McKintyās
Sean Duffy series (The Detective Up Late is #7) has been a barnstormer of a
series since the get-go.
Duffy, a Catholic Royal Ulster Constabulary officer in
āTroublesā torn Northern Ireland has a price on his head. So maybe as the 80s
bleeds inexorably into the 90s and peace remains a long, long way off itās time
to retire. But before that one last case.
Ending a series on a high note is a
tough proposition for any writer ā but McKinty nails it and maybe, just maybe,
there might yet still be a resurrection for Duffy ahead.
From New York Times bestselling author Adrian McKinty comes the next thrilling mystery in the Edgar Award-winning Sean Duffy detective series.
Slamming the door on the hellscape of 1980s Belfast, Detective Inspector Sean Duffy hopes that the 1990s are going to be better for him and the people of Northern Ireland. As a Catholic cop in the mainly Protestant RUC he still has a target on his back, and with a steady girlfriend and a child the stakes couldn't be higher.
After handling a mercurial triple agent and surviving the riots and bombings and assassination attempts, all Duffy wants toā¦
Many of us were taught as children that life isnāt fair. I never accepted this; shouldnāt we do all we can to make life fair? I grew up to be a lifelong activist and a writer for social justice organizations. As a reader and writer, I love books about womenās lives, especially women who realize that the world around them shapes their own experiences. Sometimes history is happening right here, right nowāand you know it. Those transformative moments spark the best stories, illuminating each book Iāve recommended.
With its taut, beautiful writing and ever-rising tension, this novel kept me reading late into the night. In 2008 Belfast, āthe Troublesā are very much alive, and sisters Tessa and Marian have grown into adulthood in a combustible atmosphere of menace.
When Tessa discovers that her sister has been involved in the IRA and has now become an informer against it, she plunges into the world of spies to help Marian end the ceaseless cycle of violence and retribution. The novel is more than a hold-your-breath thriller. I loved its exploration of what āterrorismā means when the terrorists are your neighbors and family and how much two women are willing to risk for peaceāand each other.