26-04-2025
Fresh reads - 7 recent Irish debut novels you might have missed
The Irish literary scene has never not been in rude health - but its robustness is found in the new writers and work that is coming through.
This year alone, there has been an abundance of stellar debut novels from Irish authors. Here are a few that may have slipped through the cracks, but which you really ought to read.
Louise Hegarty - Fair Play
If you're a fan of novels like Susanna Clarke's Piranesi, which blended mystery with elements of fantasy, then Fair Play will be right up your street. Having previously been published in journals including The Stinging Fly and Banshee, the Cork native's debut novel puts a clever spin on crime fiction with a story involves a party, a murder mystery and an unexpected death. Hegarty brilliantly harnesses humour and compassion in one of the most unique books you'll read this year (Picador).
Róisín O'Donnell - Nesting
Much like Ciara, the protagonist of her debut novel, Meath-based author Róisín O'Donnell was born in Sheffield to parents from Derry, before her family moved to Dublin when she was a teenager. Her sense of 'otherness' permeates both Ciara and this utterly gripping story about a woman attempting to escape an abusive marriage and a despicable husband to create a new life for her young children. With superbly-drawn characters, beautiful prose and a heartbreakingly tender story of coercive control and inner strength, you will not be able to put it down (Simon & Schuster).
Catherine Airey - Confessions: A Novel
The road from Ireland to the USA has been well-trodden in both a geographical and literary sense, but Catherine Airey's first novel offers a new take on the emigrant trope. Airey, an English-born author of Irish descent who now lives in Cork, tells the story of three generations of women set against several backdrops and eras, from the 1970s to post-9/11 New York and the 2010s. An absorbing read about family, belonging and the secrets that are sometimes necessary to keep (Penguin).
Garret Carr - The Boy from the Sea
What would you do if you found an abandoned baby on a beach? The Donegal-born Carr, who lectures in Creative Writing at Belfast's Queen's University, aptly weaves a tender story about a fisherman, Ambrose, who brings a new baby, Brendan, into his family in the 1970s - and the repercussions and impact that decision has. Carr has written for a YA audience in the past, but his debut novel for adults is an elegantly-written, beautiful story about compassion, love and landscape (Picador).
Róisín Lanigan - I Want To Go Home But I'm Already There
When it comes to genre, "ghost stories set in the rental crisis" are few-and-far-between - but that's precisely what makes Belfast-born Róisin Lanigan's debut novel so compelling. Áine, a twentysomething Irishwoman, moves into a flat in a bougie area of London with her English boyfriend Elliott, but it soon becomes apparent that all is not as it seems with their new abode. Encompassing themes of loneliness, social commentary and millennial angst, Lanigan's nimble storytelling - which often veers from eerie to existential - leaves the reader with plenty to think about (Penguin)
Claire Gleeson - Show Me Where It Hurts
With a starting point that is unimaginably horrifying - a husband one day deliberately crashes his car with his family inside - you might imagine that Show Me Where it Hurts is a difficult read. Well, it is. You will cry. Yet it's also a story of compassion, resilience and love. Gleeson deftly splits the story into two timelines - before and after the crash - to striking effect, making it a book that you won't forget any time soon. Gleeson has had numerous short stories published in the past, but her debut novel is a stunning effort (Sceptre).
Elaine Garvey - The Wardrobe Department
Here is a story set in a world that we don't read enough about. Written by Sligo native Elaine Garvey - who has previously had short stories published in Winter Papers and Dublin Review - her debut novel follows young Irish woman Mairéad, who works in the wardrobe department of the fictional rundown St. Leonard's Theatre in London. Unmoored and lonely, she returns to Leitrim when her grandmother dies, where she is forced to confront difficulties from her past. A quietly thought-provoking work (Canongate).
