Whispering Gums » Irish writers

What follows here is an edited version of the first ever review post I wrote – back in December 2008 on a Blogger blog I set up for my reading group. I’ve been meaning for some time to bring ...

https://whisperinggums.com/2024/09/12/sebastian-barry-the-secret-scripture/

Well, Kim (Reading Matters) and Cathy’s (746 Books) “A year with William Trevor” project is all but over, and I’ve only done one post – on the titular story in the little The dressmaker...

https://whisperinggums.com/2023/12/28/william-trevor-the-hill-bachelors-review/

In her final Novellas in November post, Cathy (746 Books) wrote about Claire Keegan’s short story “So late in the day”, and included an online link to the story. Having not read any of Keeg...

https://whisperinggums.com/2023/12/14/claire-keegan-so-late-in-the-day-bookreview/

I knew, when Kim (Reading Matters) and Cathy (746 Books) announced their “A year with William Trevor” project, that I had a little book containing some William Trevor short stories but, could...

https://whisperinggums.com/2023/05/21/william-trevor-the-dressmakers-child-review/

Irish novelist Audrey Magee’s second novel, The colony, was my reading group’s August book, and it proved an excellent choice. Literary and highly readable, with vivid characters and a sophis...

https://whisperinggums.com/2022/09/02/audrey-magee-the-colony-bookreview/

My Jane Austen group decided to start the year by discussing one of Austen’s precursors, not to mention favourite writers, Maria Edgeworth (1767-1849). Edgeworth was born eight years before Aus...

https://whisperinggums.com/2019/03/06/maria-edgeworth-leonora-bookreview/

Reactions to Eimear McBride’s A girl is a half-formed thing, which I reviewed recently, vary greatly. It is, overall, a bleak read and its style is idiosyncratic, which makes it a double whammy...

https://whisperinggums.com/2014/11/29/delicious-descriptions-eimear-mcbride-is-not-all-grim/

I try very hard when writing reviews to avoid clichés and superlatives, like, say, “achingly beautiful” or “masterful”. But I think I’m going to use one for Eimear McBride’s multi-aw...

https://whisperinggums.com/2014/11/26/eimear-mcbride-a-girl-is-a-half-formed-thing-review/

This is what Benny loves, what all the gods love, to eavesdrop on the secret lives of others. Hmm … this is also, I think, what readers love! Readers after all are, surely, the ultimate voyeur...

https://whisperinggums.com/2010/09/30/john-banville-the-infinities/

I hadn’t heard of Kevin Barry when his short story published in The New Yorker this month, “Fjord of Killary“, was brought to my attention. Kevin Barry is an Irish writer, born in Limerick ...

https://whisperinggums.com/2010/02/26/kevin-barry-fjord-of-killary/