The Hard Crowd: Everything is turning to goldBook review: Enthralling collection of essays from the acclaimed novelist Rachel KushnerThu Apr 08 2021 - 06:00
A Lonely Man: How far should you go to write a great novel?Chris Power’s clever debut novel on the sacrifices needed to create good artWed Mar 31 2021 - 06:00
His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie: Not your average old wives’ taleTradition clashes with modernity in a captivating tale of marriage in contemporary GhanaFri Mar 26 2021 - 06:00
Empty Houses: a captivating debut from a writer to watchBrenda Navarro uses dual narratives to explore missing children and dark maternityMon Mar 15 2021 - 06:00
Acts of Desperation: Bracing, poignant and devastatingly accurateBook review: Megan Nolan’s ‘raw’ debut novel of a young woman’s awakeningThu Mar 11 2021 - 06:00
A Good Father: What makes an ordinary man kill his family?Catherine Talbot’s debut novel about familicide in south Co Dublin is compellingFri Mar 05 2021 - 06:00
Here Comes the Miracle: A powerful story of lossBook review: Anna Beecher’s moving debut novel is about a young man diagnosed with a terminal illnessSat Feb 20 2021 - 06:00
The Panic Years: In search of motherhoodBook review: Journalist Nell Frizzell wanted a baby but her bodyclock was a time bombFri Feb 19 2021 - 06:00
The Art of Falling: Engaging debut novel by past master of fictionDanielle McLaughlin cleverly explores inspiration, ownership and betrayal across several narrative strainsSat Feb 06 2021 - 06:00
Open Water: Promising novel on pervasive racism in LondonCaleb Azumah Nelson’s debut novel is strong on race relations but doesn’t quite landMon Feb 01 2021 - 06:00
Luster: Forceful and funny tale of race, gender and desireBook review: Raven Leilani’s debut charts the messy lives of shiny, unhappy peopleMon Jan 25 2021 - 06:00
A Crooked Tree: A colourful, classic coming-of-age taleBook review: Una Mannion’s debut novel is full of quiet surprises and revelationsMon Jan 18 2021 - 06:00
little scratch: Intense, visceral novel pushes the boundariesBook review: Rebecca Watson’s inventive debut makes for a compelling readWed Jan 13 2021 - 06:00
White Ivy: Sharp exploration of privilege in modern AmericaBook review: Captivating debut novel about the dangers of pursuing the American dreamWed Jan 06 2021 - 06:00
The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse: Chilling murder mystery set in the Swiss AlpsBook review: When a freak snowstorm leaves a hotel cut off the nightmare scenarios beginFri Dec 25 2020 - 06:00
The best debut fiction of 2020The standout first novels and collections from home and abroad this yearSun Dec 13 2020 - 06:00
Medals and Prizes: Deftly crafted stories filled with dark comedyBook review: Metcalf is an accessible writer whose engaging collection spans a life’s workMon Dec 07 2020 - 06:00
You Exist Too Much: A provocative and insightful debutNovel about young American-Palestinian woman who feels out of place everywhere, even in her own bodyFri Dec 04 2020 - 06:00
Leave the World Behind: Gripped by everyday dreadBook Review: Timely novel about a sudden, cataclysmic event that shocks the worldSat Nov 21 2020 - 06:00
The Last Good Man: A troubling, uncanny and believable nightmare worldThomas McMullan’s debut novel portrays a vivid dystopia fuelled by sham democracyFri Nov 20 2020 - 06:00
What You Could Have Won: plenty to applaud but easy to get lostGenn is to be commended for choosing two such unlikable leads for her novel about a celebrity singer's toxic relationshipsWed Nov 11 2020 - 06:00
Lost Cat: A beautifully paced treatise on the human need for loveBook review: Mary Gaitskill mines details from her own life in this story of loss and recoverySat Oct 31 2020 - 06:00
The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida: Secret lives in JapanSecrets and fabrications are at the heart of Clarissa Goenawan’s intriguing second novelThu Oct 29 2020 - 06:00
Hag: modern feminist fairytales get a new lifeBook review: Carolyne Larrington’s vivid anthology of 10 reimagined folktalesSat Oct 17 2020 - 06:00
Three-Fifths: America’s fractured society past and presentBook review: John Vercher’s debut is a deft exploration of the great racial divideSat Oct 10 2020 - 06:00
Earthlings: Funny, dark and not for the squeamishDark novel about sex abuse from Sayaka Murata, author of Convenience Store WomanFri Oct 09 2020 - 06:00
Sinéad Gleeson: ‘I wanted it to be a mix of canonical and contemporary’Sinéad Gleeson talks about her mammoth new anthology of 100 Irish short storiesSat Oct 03 2020 - 06:00
Pizza Girl: A sharp shock of a novelJean Kyoung Frazier’s debut is a blistering base with all the toppingsMon Sept 28 2020 - 06:00
Indelicacy: An extraordinary feminist fable about women and artAmina Cain’s debut novel on the art monster within is remarkable in its scopeWed Sept 23 2020 - 06:00
The New Wilderness: urgent and inventive look at the climate crisisBook review: Diane Cook’s subtle look at the climate crisis deserves its place on the Booker longlistMon Sept 14 2020 - 06:00
A Ghost in the Throat: Otherworldly, older-worldly hybrid of essay and autofictionDoireann Ní Ghríofa’s unusual prose debut brings art of Caoineadh into the 21st centurySun Sept 06 2020 - 06:00
Here is the Beehive: Fast-paced tale of tragedy and infidelityBook review: Former Laureate na nÓg Sarah Crossan has written her first novel for adults, a cleverly-conceived story about the end of an affairSat Aug 29 2020 - 06:00
As You Were: A powerful novel about life, death and the bit in betweenElaine Feeney’s debut novel, set on a hospital ward, has a strong state-of-the-nation feelTue Aug 25 2020 - 06:00
Betty by Tiffany McDaniel: An epic tale of family and sexual abuseFlawed but important novel about the legacy of abuse passed down through generationsSat Aug 15 2020 - 06:00
True Story: offbeat debut about an alleged sexual assaultKate Reed Petty’s genre-hopping novel focuses on lives altered by a true-or-false storyMon Aug 10 2020 - 06:00
Saturday Lunch with the Brownings: Capturing tensions of domestic lifeBook review: In Penelope Mortimer’s 12 short stories, the familiar turns monstrousThu Aug 06 2020 - 06:00
A Silent Fury: The ugly truth about the El Bordo mine fireYuri Herrera’s narrative journalism about the 1920 tragedy and cover-up is devastatingWed Jul 29 2020 - 06:00
Olive: Olive branches for women in their 30sBook review: Emma Gannon’s smart debut novel looks at the decision to be childfreeFri Jul 24 2020 - 06:00
Tennis Lessons: clever, odd and intimate tale of Northern childhoodSusannah Dickey’s powerful writing brings a girl’s coming of age into sharp focusTue Jul 14 2020 - 06:00
August: An extraordinary debut novel about ordinary lifeCallan Wink’s coming-of-age novel in the US heartland confirms him as a major talentThu Jul 09 2020 - 06:00
Good Morning, Destroyer of Men’s Souls: Humanising the story of addictionBook review: An eye-opening debut about codependency from Nina Renata AronFri Jul 03 2020 - 06:00
The Wild Laughter: Moving tale of assisted suicide in time of recessionCaoilinn Hughes deploys poignant prose in a rural setting with prodigal tonesThu Jun 25 2020 - 06:00
This Happy by Niamh Campbell: The end of the affairBook review: An affair continues to haunt in Niamh Campbell’s intricate, deftly written debutSun Jun 14 2020 - 06:00
The Nacullians: Families as another brick in the wallCraig Jordan-Baker explores a migrant Irish bricklayer and his clan with metafictional flairWed Jun 10 2020 - 06:00
Wretchedness: Exposing Sweden’s sad underbellyAndrzej Tichý rages over injustices in a searing novel about Sweden’s marginalisedFri Jun 05 2020 - 06:00
Latitudes of Longing: history, culture and the importance of connectednessBook review: Swarup explores in an original way love for each other and the planet at largeSat May 23 2020 - 06:00
Almost the Same Blue: Captivating, high-octane debut collectionThe detail of Irish author John O’Donnell’s writing is what makes the stories singWed May 13 2020 - 06:00
Rainbow Milk: Bracing debut on racism, rent boys and religionBook review: Paul Mendez’s semi-autobiographical novel is vibrant and original but sometimes a little uneven in its tellingSat May 02 2020 - 06:00
Barn 8: dazzling depiction of contemporary carnageBook review: Deb Olin Unferth’s novel looks at the role of activism in 21st-century societyThu Apr 30 2020 - 06:00
Exciting Times review: Whipsmart debut heralds a new star of Irish writingExciting book from Irish author Naoise Dolan has echoes of Sally RooneySun Apr 12 2020 - 06:00
