Chances are, most of us will wear something green this week. We will bring home a Guinness. Tell an Irish joke or two. But to gain a deeper appreciation of a country so dear to so many Americans, a visit to the nearest bookstore might be in order, too.
Perhaps no nation in the world is as proud of its literary tradition — or has so much reason to be — as Ireland.
From Yeats to Wilde to Joyce to Becket to Maeve Binchy and Frank McCourt, Irish authors have painted the pictures we see today when thinking of Ireland.
Here, courtesy of volunteers with the Tucson Festival of Books, are some recent Irish tales you might want to try:
- “The Searcher” by Tana French — Published in October, this bestseller tells of a Chicago cop who — after a punishing divorce — decides to start over in a small Irish town with a pretty view and a good pub. Naturally, trouble finds him there, too, when a local boy persuades him to find his missing brother. — Anne Spieth
- “Love” by Roddy Doyle — A former Booker Prize-winner, Doyle returned to bestseller lists last summer with a story about two long-time mates who meet in a Belfast pub to swap stories, exchange news, and share some life lessons they learned along the way. — Bill Finley
- “The Pull of the Stars” by Emma Donoghue — This timely novel features a young nurse in an under-staffed Irish hospital who cares for expectant mothers quarantined during the Spanish Flu outbreak in 1918. Published last summer, the book chronicles love, loss and new life during three terrifying days that may sound familiar to emergency room nurses today. — Anne Spieth
- • “The Heart’s Invisible Furies” by John Boyne — This novel, published in 2018, follows the life of Cyril Avery. His unwed teenage mother had made her way in Dublin after being cast out by her family in County Cork. Cyril became a closeted young gay man in a deeply homophobic country. He and the supporting cast are endearing and unforgettable. — Jessica Maves
- • “The Ghosts of Belfast” by Stuart Neville — In his inspired debut novel, published in 2016, Neville explored the long-lasting damage The Troubles left in its survivors. His story features a Belfast hit-man hired by the ghosts of his victims to avenge their murders. How Irish is that? — Tricia Clapp
- “Brooklyn” by Colm Tobin — One of the most beloved characters in all of Irish-American literature is Eilis Lacey, a young woman from a small Irish town who comes to New York in the difficult days after World War II. If you liked the movie, which was nominated for an Oscar as “Best Picture,” you will love the 2009 book even more. — Helene Woodhams
- “The Green Road” by Anne Enright — Enright is best-known for her Booker Prize-winning novel, “The Gathering,” but you may find “The Green Road” (2016) a bit more approachable. It is the story of an estranged family that agrees to gather one last time for Christmas at the request of their dying mum. — Bill Finley
- “Say Nothing” by Patrick Radden Keefe — Published in 2019, this remarkable work reads as much like a whodunit as it does a history book. The stepping-off point is the disappearance of a Belfast mother during The Troubles. What happed to her? Where did she go? Who did it? Keefe tries to make sense of an incredibly complex time by focusing on the perspectives of a few key families. If there’s a single book that best reveals a horrific time in Northern Ireland, this might be it. — Jessica Maves
- “The Ghost Factory” by Jenny McCartney — Published last summer, this memorable debut novel tells of the still-difficult times that troubled Northern Ireland even as The Troubles were drawing to a close. Jacky tried to escape them by moving to London, but bad news from Belfast draws him back. — Jessica Mayes
- “Conversations With Friends” by Sally Rooney – Rooney became an American sensation last year when “Normal People” became a hit series on TV, but her star hangs on this debut novel from 2018. It is a sharp, funny, poignant story of two young college women trying to become adults in Dublin. — Lynn Wiese Sneyd
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