There’s no denying that lockdown has been a bleak and exacting experience for many. The monotony of days and their slow-moving pace have made it especially difficult for people in recent weeks. To help you through the next few weeks, we’ve selected some of our favourite reads in recent months. From Paul Howard, to John Boyne and Donal Ryan, these authors will make time fly and your imagination run free.
Paul Howard, Ross O’Carroll-Kelly: Braywatch/h4>
The latest novel in the Ross O’Carroll-Kelly franchise is perhaps one of his most daring in terms of its overstated social takes. Unfamiliar with the middle-class surrounds of Bray, this novel sees the protagonist, O’Carroll-Kelly, undertaking the position of rugby coach at an all-boys Catholic secondary school in the area. Although Wicklow is unfamiliar territory for O’Carroll-Kelly, his unique approach to rugby grants him access into this petit-bourgeois world – a world he eventually falls in love with. With the return of characters like Sorcha, the benevolent climate activist, and Ross’ unscrupulous parents, this book is sure to be just as riveting as the previous nineteen of the series.
John Boyne, A Traveller at the Gates of Wisdom
Described by the Guardian as an “era-hopping epic”, John Boyne’s A Traveller at the Gates of Wisdom follows an array of characters who are reincarnated over two millennia and must face the challenges of the human experience in every era. From ancient Rome to Elizabethan London, Boyne’s characters journey through history – their lives intertwining – respectively dealing with matters such as love, loss, and monogamy. The writing exposes how Boyne operates under the assumption that our stories and experiences are both universal and unique.
Donal Ryan, Strange Flowers
In his latest novel, Strange Flowers, Ryan revisits 1970s Ireland in order to scrutinise its conservative past – a past defined by class hierarchies and traditional ideologies. This novel follows the life of Moll Gladney: a young woman living in rural Tipperary who, one day, returns home after having vanished from her village for five years. Many questions are left unanswered after Moll’s abrupt disappearance, and the idea that there may be no answers to these questions upon her return gives this novel a mysterious flare.
