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Dear Sarah, In The Beth Book (1897), we feel that we are reading two very different, at times irreconcilable, books: a powerful coming of age novel and a…… Read more “Hers was a nature with a wide range”
Tag: Ireland
Sarah Grand
Sarah Grand (nom de plume of Frances Elisabeth McFall, née Bellenden Clarke, 10 June 1854 – 12 May 1943) was an Anglo-Irish writer. She was born in…… Read more “Sarah Grand”
You cannot live in armour all your life
Dear Maria, In Belinda (first published in 1801, revised in 1810), we can almost feel the double-edged sword you are playing with: while championing the idea that…… Read more “You cannot live in armour all your life”
Maria Edgeworth
Maria Edgeworth (1 January 1768 – 22 May 1849) was an Anglo-Irish author. Born in Oxfordshire, Maria moved to Ireland with her father, when she was five…… Read more “Maria Edgeworth”
Reading Ireland Month | 2019
Hello, lovely readers, As in the previous years, for our delight, Cathy and Niall are hosting Reading Ireland Month, in March, to celebrate all things Irish! Here are some of my possible…… Read more “Reading Ireland Month | 2019”
Perhaps freedom has no meaning
Dear Iris, The Unicorn (1963) is a tale of imprisonment in a shared fantasy, where the cages, rotating on a blank axle, are full of longing. When…… Read more “Perhaps freedom has no meaning”
That indefinitely extended requirement that one human being makes upon another
Dear Iris, “I think it’s terrible to be in danger of writing a philosophical novel”, you said in an interview. And I know you have systematically refused to be called…… Read more “That indefinitely extended requirement that one human being makes upon another”
Iris Murdoch
Iris Murdoch (Jean Iris Murdoch, 15 July 1919 – 8 February 1999) was an Anglo-Irish novelist and philosopher. Murdoch studied classics at Somerville College, Oxford. She was awarded a first-class…… Read more “Iris Murdoch”
Home is a place in the mind
Dear Maeve, If your novella The Visitor (2000, originally written in the 1940’s) had a face, it would be one of a trapped animal, diverted from its…… Read more “Home is a place in the mind”
Maeve Brennan
Maeve Brennan (January 6, 1917 – November 1, 1993) was an Irish writer and journalist. Born in Dublin, she moved to the United States, in 1934, when her father…… Read more “Maeve Brennan”
From now on I shall only wear white,
Dear Nuala, Sometimes I feel that your novel Miss Emily (2015) is haunted by the ghost of something – a bird? – it distractedly let slip out of…… Read more “From now on I shall only wear white,”
Nuala O’Connor
Nuala O’Connor (Nuala Ní Chonchúir, born 14 January 1970) is an Irish writer and poet. She has a Bachelor in Irish from Trinity College Dublin and a Masters in…… Read more “Nuala O’Connor”
I do know how to behave – believe me, because I know. I have always known.
Dear Molly, If I had to describe your novel Good Behaviour (1981) in one word I would say: merciless. As merciless as the code of conduct in…… Read more “I do know how to behave – believe me, because I know. I have always known.”
Molly Keane
Molly Keane (born Mary Nesta Skrine, 20 July 1904 – 22 April 1996) was an Irish writer. She went to a boarding school in Bray, County Wicklow, married…… Read more “Molly Keane”
Their victims lie strewn all round
Dear Elizabeth, I’ve been meaning to write to you since the beginning of April, when the 1938 Club brought me right inside ‘the turned-in heart’ of your…… Read more “Their victims lie strewn all round”
Elizabeth Bowen
Elizabeth Bowen (Elizabeth Dorothea Cole Bowen, 7 June 1899 – 22 February 1973) was an Irish writer. Born in Dublin, she moved with her mother to England in 1907, when…… Read more “Elizabeth Bowen”
Everyone was shut in upon themselves
Dear Norah, I just came back from a trip by bike, during which There Were No Windows (1944) was my loyal reading companion. While Spring bloomed all…… Read more “Everyone was shut in upon themselves”
Norah Hoult
Norah Hoult (10 September 1898 – 6 April 1984) was an Irish writer. Born in Dublin, Norah was orphaned when she was still a child, and was sent…… Read more “Norah Hoult”
