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This time last year I was doing a daily scroll through my photo dump after just getting back from Ireland. We’ve been many times over the years, as my dad and numerous other relatives are from the old country and it’s always good craic (Irish for fun). The trips are always amazing, but this one I’m having a tough time moving on from. A story idea I had while I was there — one I want to turn into a book someday — has been ruminating ever since. And my husband and I loved one particular town so much that while we were there we started dreaming about an empty-nest experiment: living there for six months to a year, somewhere down the road.
So I laughed when I logged the last book on my summer list and noticed that half of what I’d read was set in Ireland or about Irish-Americans. I guess I’ve still got the old country on my mind!
So pull up a chair. I’ll put the kettle on. Here’s how my summer reading stacked up.
If you only read one: The Correspondent by Virginia Evans. It’s the easiest company of the eight, and I finished it wanting to write letters to people I haven’t written to in years.
The Irish Ones
Land by Maggie O’Farrell
I was so excited for this one. My verdict: a beautiful, painful read.
Maggie O’Farrell does an extraordinary job describing Ireland in the shadow of the Famine. She heart-wrenchingly has you follow one family to see how one catastrophe lands differently on each person, and how those separate lives add up to what happens to a whole community. I had to put it down at points because it was so heavy. But an important read.
Read it if you want something beautiful that will take something out of you.
The Irish Goodbye by Heather Aimee O’Neill
My gosh, this story had so much going on, and a lot of it I could relate to as a first-generation American with Irish parents. The Irish Catholic guilt runs strong, LOL!
The family dynamics of aging parents, two sisters coming home for Thanksgiving as adults, and the one who stayed in town and handles “the emotional labor of caregiving” really hit home. There are other threads too — tremendous loss, decades-old secrets — that keep the story moving along.
Read it if you grew up Irish-American, or if you’re the sibling who stayed.
Northern Spy by Flynn Berry
This book was fine and held me captive enough for a suspense novel, but I wouldn’t say it was the most suspenseful thing I’ve ever read. It’s a nice way in for someone who doesn’t already know about the Troubles in Northern Ireland, though I feel like it could have gone more in-depth from a historical fiction standpoint.
At least it points out that a conflict is not always black and white, that there can be variations of good and evil in the pursuit of justice — and that secrets always lead to disaster.
Read it if you want a fast suspense novel and a way into the Troubles.
Saoirse by Charleen Hurtubise
I listened to this one on a long drive and I loved the audio. The storyline was an important one, about child abuse and the lengths someone will go to in order to run from it and recover.
When the main character lands in Ireland, the author does a great job of pulling in all the characters you either love or hate for various reasons. I particularly loved the descriptions of Donegal, especially after experiencing that breathtaking part of the country for the first time last year. I also love the name Saoirse, and now I want to reread and rewatch Brooklyn (even though the name is the only thing they have in common, LOL).
Read it on audio, on a long drive — and know going in that it deals with child abuse.
Not Irish, Still Very Good
Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage by Belle Burden
A quick, easy read that stays with you. I read it on the beach earlier this summer, and it definitely makes you think about what you do and don’t know about your spouse — and about your joint finances.
My friend just got back from a long trip and said it was the perfect book to digest quickly on a plane. I’ve read that some people have little empathy for the author because she came from extreme wealth. I think that’s irrelevant. Her husband is the real villain here: as a life partner, and even more so as a parent.
I kept thinking about this one long after it was finished.
Read it on a plane. Then go look at your joint account.
Heart the Lover by Lily King
My first thought was that this is an emotional, young-love, great read that someone in their 20s would really enjoy — like my daughter and her friends.
But looking back at the notes I took while reading, I also loved the perspective of a writer, and of students of writing, since it follows the characters from college into adulthood. The line “two things that bring perspective and revelation to a character: time and distance” makes you think about character-driven stories, and about how authors build both plot and character, and how both are imperative to a successful story. And as a lover of women’s intuition, the line “I love how fast women get things” highlighted one of our many talents.
Read it if you’re in your twenties, or if you write.
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
I love when someone wants to share a good story. A friend dropped this book off at my doorstep because she wanted to discuss it. I got right to work, and loved what an easy read it was on my front porch.
Since it’s composed entirely of letters between Sybil and the people she corresponded with throughout her lifetime, it was easy to pick up and put down when time permitted. And as someone hoping to slip gracefully into old age, this story realistically points out that it isn’t always possible, and that a lot of it is out of your control.
While I didn’t have a ton in common with Sybil, I grew to love her as a character — and she makes me want to write more letters.
Read it if you want easy company on the porch, and if you’ve been meaning to write more letters.
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
I’m not really a mystery person — I gravitate to drama and real-life stories. So when our book club wanted to read a mystery, we decided, why not the world’s best-selling mystery novel of all time?
Turns out that was a great idea. This classic has you trying to work out who could be killing every person on a deserted island, one by one, when everyone invited has their own mysterious past. It was a great read and even better to discuss.
Read it with a book club. It’s built for arguing about.
So I somehow never got to the list of beach reads I’d compiled early in the summer. Instead my heart took me back over the ocean, and I’m happier for it — and I’ll still be dreaming about that future empty-nest year frolicking on the west coast of Ireland.
Here’s the beach read list I never got to, if you want to see what I’m carrying into the fall. And all eight of the books above are on my Bookshop shelf.
So what should I read this fall? Leave it in the comments — I’m already building the next list, and I promise I’ll read every single recommendation.
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