"From the author of Shadowplay, shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize, The Costa Novel Prize and Novel of the Year winner at the An Post Irish Book Awards.
Inishowen is a story of love found late, of hidden connections and a journey that changes three lives forever. There's Inspector Martin Aitken whose life is a mess. Divorced, his career's in chaos. There are terrible things growing inside his house and the last thing he needs is a collapsed woman in the street on Christmas Eve. There's Ellen Donelly, a woman on a mission, coming to Ireland to find her mother, and escape her husband. Milton Amery is her husband, an unfaithful New York plastic surgeon. All three of their roads lead to Inishowen - a mysterious place that holds secrets that can unlock the heart.
‘A vast page-turner, full of compassion, laughter and zest for the human condition, as well as a rattling good story.’ — Irish Times
‘Ireland’s greatest storyteller.’ — The Sunday Independent
‘One of the best writers working today.’ – Alice Walker
“A powerful, moving adventure of raw fate and betrayed love.” INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
“This is a tremendous book…affecting, intelligent, ironic, humane and utterly convincing. It is also extremely funny.” SPECTATOR"
"From the author of Shadowplay, shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize, The Costa Novel Prize and Novel of the Year winner at the An Post Irish Book Awards.
It's Dublin, June 1995, the hottest summer since records began. But Billy Sweeney, a middle-aged salesman with a failed marriage, a faltering career and a tumbledown house, has more than weather on his mind. His youngest daughter lies in a coma in hospital following a mysterious attack on the petrol station where she worked. Devastated by the unfolding consequences of that hot, violent night, frustrated by officialdom and failed by the system, Billy finally tires of seeking legal justice. He decides to take the law into his own hands...
‘Very near perfection…you’ll be on the edge of your seat.’ — Literary Review
“Gripping and moving…a taut, expertly crafted plot.” GUARDIAN
“Very near perfection. You’ll be on the edge of your seat.” THE LITERARY REVIEW"
"From the author of Shadowplay, shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize, The Costa Novel Prize and Novel of the Year winner at the An Post Irish Book Awards.
All alone, with only his electric guitar and his overactive ego for company, Eddie Virago, proud owner of the last mohican haircut in Dublin, leaves his home town to find fame in the wild world of the London rock scene. Things don't quite go as planned, however, and he finds himself living in a ramshackle hotel with a neurotic girl he met on the ferry over while a bewildering array of acid-house ravers, saloon-bar revolutionaries, music biz wideboys and media primadonnas all seem oh-so-anxious to help Eddie on his way...
Caustic and entertaining ? Sunday Times
Sharply observed and always entertaining ? Independent
This is an impressive debut: a good story, well told, great characters, with sardonic, knowing digs at the youthful pretention...clever, wry and often hilarious ? Time Out
Well-written, tremendously confident ? Irish Independent
Characters that leap out at you like figures in a pop-up book. Joseph O'Connor's first novel suggests he is bound for fame ? Observer"
"From Irish PEN award-winning author Joseph O’Connor, Shadowplay explores the characters whose loves and lives inspired Dracula. 1878.
The Lyceum Theatre, London. Three extraordinary people begin their life together. Henry Irving, the Chief, is the volcanic leading man and impresario; Ellen Terry is the most lauded and desired actress of her generation; and ever following along behind them in the shadows is the unremarkable theatre manager, Bram Stoker. Bram is wrestling with dark demons in a new city, in a new marriage, and with his own literary aspirations. As he walks the London streets at night, streets haunted by the Ripper and the gossip which swirls around his friend Oscar Wilde, he finds new inspiration. But the Chief is determined that nothing will get in the way of his manager’s devotion to the Lyceum and to himself. And both men are enchanted by the beauty and boldness of the elusive Ellen.
'Joseph O’Connor is a very great artist and storyteller. The quotient of enjoyment in his extraordinary new novel is stupendous.' SEBASTIAN BARRY
'There are few living writers who can take us back in time so assuredly, with such sensual density, through such gorgeous sentences. Joseph O’Connor is a wonder, and Shadowplay is a triumph.' PETER CAREY, twice winner of the Booker Prize."
"This practical audiobook will help you to know when to trust and when not to trust, how to develop your intuition to stay safe when there is real danger, how to deal with worry and change in light of an uncertain future and, most importantly, to be in the here and now, living your life to the fullest."
"Dublin, 1907. A young actress begins an affair with an older man. Outspoken and flirtatious, Molly Allgood is a Catholic girl from the slums of Dublin, dreaming of stardom in America. Her lover, John Synge, is a troubled genius. Their affair, sternly opposed by friends and family, is quarrelsome, affectionate and tender.
Many years later, Molly, makes her way through London's bomb-scarred streets. Her once dazzling career has faded but her unquenchable passion for life has kept her afloat."
"1865: The American Civil War is ending. Eighteen years after the famine ship ‘Star of the Sea’ docked at New York, the daughter of two of its passengers sets out from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Eliza Duane Mooney is searching for her younger brother who she has not seen in four years. It's a walk that will have consequences for many…"
"In the bitter winter of 1847, from an Ireland torn by injustice and natural disaster, the Star of the Sea sets sail for New York. On board are hundreds of fleeing refugees, all braving the Atlantic in search of a new home. But a camouflaged killer is stalking the decks, hungry for the vengeance that will bring absolution. The twenty-six day journey will see many lives end, whilst others begin afresh…"
"At college in 1980s, Robbie Goulding, an Irish-born teenager, meets Fran Mulvey, a Vietnamese refugee. Together they form a band. Joined by cellist Sarah-Thérèse Sherlock and her brother Seán on drums, they set out to chase fame. Spanning 25 years, we fast-forward through an evocative soundtrack of struggle and laughter. Infused with blues, New Wave and punk, the tale stretches from the Glastonbury Festival to Long Island, culminating in July 2012, a night that changes everything."
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