Eva has lost her baby. Set in the South Bronx in the mid-1990s, Stories of Gabriel portrays neighbors in a tightly knit community at a time of crisis. How does this loss affect the lives of the devastated parents, their families, friends—the people on the block? What memories, heartbreaks, and quests does it spark?  Haunting and intricate, Stories of Gabriel is not “a love story,” but a story of … Continue reading Stories of Gabriel by Esther Alix #BookReview #DebutNovel #HeliotropeBooks #MaguirePR #4.5*

The story from which this book takes its title sees a young man in a London bar enjoying a last drink before setting off home, when a young woman passes by, dropping her handbag as she does so. The retrieval of the bag and the subsequent brief relationship leads the man into life-changing circumstances. The remaining stories all follow a similar line, with an unusual … Continue reading A Chance Encounter by Deric Shaw #BookReview #AustinMacauley #4*

‘Her storytelling ability is second to none’ SUNDAY EXPRESS ‘Maeve Binchy is a master storyteller’ NEW YORK TIMES‘The Irish do love telling stories, and we are suspicious of people who don’t have long, complicated conversations. There used to be a rule in etiquette books that you should invite four talkers and four listeners to a dinner party. That doesn’t work in Ireland, because nobody knows … Continue reading A Few of the Girls by Maeve Binchy #BookReview #Orion #5*

Liberty Terrace features a bevy of characters who reside in a fictional area of Cork City in the period 2016 to 2020. The inhabitants of Liberty Terrace come and go, and their lives occasionally intersect in stories that are sometimes funny, sometimes dark, often both. The cast of characters includes retired Garda Superintendent Deckie Google, a young homeless squatter, the mother of an autistic child … Continue reading Liberty Terrace by Madeleine D’Arcy #BookReview #DoirePress #MidasPR #4*

A housing estate is in shock following a child’s disappearance. A girl and her invisible friend go their separate ways. A father and a son bond over Post-It notes. A single father and his daughter have different approaches to the disappearance of their dog. A father finds his way to coax his agoraphobic son back out into the world. My Fence is Electric and Other … Continue reading My Fence is Electric by Mark Newman #BookReview #OdysseyBooks #HenryRoiPR #5*

‘Ingenious idea, brilliantly executed’ – Daily Mirror ‘Humanity shimmers at the heart of every tale…and it is this that resonates, long after each mystery has been solved.’ – Caroline Ward Vine, winner of the Costa Prize. Can you find the famous person hidden in every story? And once found, can you understand them? Dreamers, singers, heroes and killers, they can dazzle with their talent or their unmitigated evil, yet … Continue reading Backstories by Simon Van Der Velde #BookReview #Anthology #SmokeandMirrorsPress #5*