Edel Coffey

1 week ago | thegloss.ie | Edel Coffey

The best debuts and blockbuster novels of the year so far … THE NAMES (Phoenix, €16.99) by Florence Knapp is the buzziest debut of the year so far. It asks the question: can a name change the course of your life? In 1987, Cora gives birth to a son but has been prevented by a storm from registering his birth.

1 week ago | irishtimes.com | Edel Coffey

Canadian author Madeleine Thien’s new novel The Book Of Records, her first since her 2016 Booker-shortlisted Do Not Say We Have Nothing, took a lot longer to finish than she had anticipated. But books have their own time, she tells me over a Zoom call from her home in Montreal. It’s no surprise to hear this, considering time and all of its mysteries and fascinations are central to Thien’s novels.

2 weeks ago | irishtimes.com | Edel Coffey

“It’s a mad way of being, adolescence,” says Galway writer John Patrick McHugh. “Sometimes I think I’d love to do it again and then I think of the stress of being a 14-year-old and how bad you can feel and I’m glad it’s over.”McHugh has hit zeitgeist gold with his debut novel, Fun and Games. “It’s a really tough time,” says McHugh, now 33, of male adolescence, the subject of his novel.

3 weeks ago | thegloss.ie | Edel Coffey

ON HOME I moved to Clontarf 20 years ago so I would probably still be considered a blow-in. I love being so close to the sea. I have a very serene, mature, shrub-filled back garden, where I can wind down after a long day on the computer. ON ROOTS I grew up in Stormanstown Road in Wadelai, Ballygall, before we moved a short distance to Hillcrest Park. I actually named our new estate. Every household was invited to suggest a name.

3 weeks ago | thegloss.ie | Edel Coffey

A reading list of the best books of the year so far, featuring literary icons, blockbusters, iconic memoirs, romance, mystery and short stories … First up, my book of possibly the year? – is DREAM COUNT (4th Estate, €23.20) by Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.