Library Staff Directory
Posted Mar 16, 2015
Spring is almost here and Saint Patrick’s Day is just around the corner—it’s time to read green! This week’s selection focuses on Ireland, Irish authors, Irish characters, or, better yet, a combination of all three.
The Girl on the Cliff by Lucinda Riley
After an unsuspected miscarriage, Grania Ryan leaves her boyfriend and her life in New York to return to her homeland—Ireland. Reflecting on her heartbreak at a cliff’s edge, Grania meets Aurora Lisle, a young red-headed girl Grania’s mother warns her to stay away from. The girls’ friendship blossoms despite the dissuasion, and soon, after reading letters from the past, Grania and Aurora discover their families have long been intertwined. Now, Grania must make choices that will not only deeply affect her current stay in Ireland, but potentially the rest of her life. Full of new opportunities and lost loves, The Girl on the Cliff is an intricately layered novel with characters that jump off the page.
A History of Loneliness by John Boyne
After a family tragedy, Father Ordan Yates takes a vow of service and works as a Chaplin at the Clonliffe Seminary, an all-boys school in Dublin. After twenty-eight years of tenure and the outbreak of the Catholic Church’s sex abuse scandal, Father Yates is repurposed as a priest—a substitute for a cleric accused of long-term, systematic abuse. As the Church collapses, public hostility grows, and Father Yates’ colleagues are tried and/or jailed, he begins to reflect on his own past, bringing to light his own denial and pain. Boyne delicately and thoughtfully covers a devastating subject matter that will raise questions with readers long after finishing the book.
An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor
Barry Laverty graduated from medical school, accepts a physician’s assistant position in Ballybucklebo, a small village in Northern Ireland, and soon realizes he’s in for more than what he bargained for. Dreaming of emerald hills and simple, rural life, the town turns out to be eccentric and so is Barry’s boss, Dr. Fingal Flahertie O’Reilly, a former boxer turned cantankerous physician. Not sure if his boss is a quack or good teacher, Barry learns a new way of doing things that help him navigate larger lessons like life and love. An Irish Country Doctor is the first in a series that traces Ireland’s culture with a sense of humor that will make you laugh while warming your heart.
Emerald Magic: Great Tales of Irish Fantasy edited by Andrew M. Greeley
Featuring leprechauns, giants, fairies, and banshees, Ireland has a rich collection of folk tales, legends, and fantastical stories. Emerald Magic presents fifteen Celtic-themed stories with varied interpretations from authors like Ray Bradbury, Elizabeth Hayden, and Charles de Lint. For example, Fred Saberhagen’s “A Drop of Something of Something Special” is the story that inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula whereas more modern tales like “The Swan Pilot” by L. E. Modesitt, Jr. features a rocket ship captain on his way to a space station only to be drawn away by dream-like hallucinations. Science fiction in nature and traditional in theme, the stories retold in Emerald Magic captures the essence of storytelling at its finest.
Share This: