The Lock-Keeper’s Wife by John MacKenna: Menopausal protagonist brought low by a lousy husband
A novel that follows Julie MacDermott on her return from ‘The Mental’, to which she was committed by her spouse
One Sun Only by Camille Bordas: a truly effortless collection
Stories that capture the zeitgeist, without being expressly ‘contemporary’
Accepting uncertainty is a key component in living with chronic illness
Brigid O’Dea: I can do little with ChatGPT diagnoses except allow them to assuage my anxiety until I visit the doctor
Reviews in brief: My Travels with Footsbarn Theatre; Natalja’s Stories; Barren
A lively memoir on the adventures of a travelling theatre group; a fable-like novella; and an enlightening novel with real emotional integrity
This Is Not a Cookbook by Roxana Manouchehri: An elegant book from our Persian-Irish host
Female voices triumph in vignettes accompanied by recipes
We miss out on many things because of chronic illness ... love should not be one
Why did a woman with congenital heart disease choose to lose her virginity to man in whom she had little interest?
Aftermath by Bláthnaid Raleigh: Chilling account of the impact of a violent rape
Raleigh advocates passionately on behalf of survivors of sexual assault
For the first time in a long time, my body shrugged the exertion off
On a longer-than-expected trek in the heat of Santorini, I waited anxiously for the inevitable migraine attack – but it never came
Desire-propelled prose from Rosemary Jenkinson; a compelling novel by Lynda Marron; Monto uncovered with Caroline West
Reviews of Lagan Lights, The Bridge to Always and Wrong Women
Let’s face it ‘reach for the stars’ is not a very Irish mantra
Many disabled artists would opt for the ‘humble’ option of requesting lesser or no payment for work. Reaching for the stars is too risky
I set two atheists up on a date. They spent the evening discussing God
Without the structure of a formal belief system, we have the freedom to create our own understanding of life
Illness management: ‘If my condition does not improve, does that make it my fault?’
I am not someone who typically engages with migraine beyond living with it ... It takes up enough of my time as it is
Eden’s Shore by Oisín Fagan: Labyrinthine novel brimming with life
Highly imaginative narrative follows an Irishman’s quest to create a utopia in Latin America
I told my boyfriend about my soulmate, without registering his reaction
You might consider my boyfriend’s take important to me. We are, after all, relatively new together