John McGahern

Introduced by Sinéad Gleeson, John McGahern's Booker Prize-shortlisted Irish 'masterpiece' (Colm Tóibín) is essential reading for admirers of Claire Keegan. As he weakened, Moran became afraid of his daughters. Moran's life is defined by his days of glory as a guerrilla leader in the Irish War of Independence. Now, he is simply an ageing widower, eking out an existence on...

With a new foreword by Yiyun Li, this beloved memoir of an Irish childhood by the Booker Prize-shortlisted author of classics like Amongst Women is a 'healing book' (Sebastian Barry) 'McGahern is about as close as we get to Proust.' Guardian I am sure it is from those days that I take the belief that the best of life is...

With a new foreword by Kevin Barry, McGahern's timeless (Sinéad Gleeson) novel of rural Irish life is perfect for admirers of Claire Keegan. 'I'm grateful for every sentence McGahern left in this world.' Donal Ryan When the bells rang out for Mass, the strokes trembling on the water, they had the entire world to themselves. Joe Ruttledge has returned to...

With a new foreword by Colin Walsh, this is one of the most volatile, vital, and unsafe novels in Irish literature, banned by the censor for obscenity in 1965 - and just as explosive today. He was coming and there was nothing to do but wait and grow hard as stone and lie. Mahoney grows up in fear of his...

"My only concern," John McGahern once said, "is that I get the sentence right and describe my world clearly and deeply." The Country Funeral witnesses three brothers, John, Philly, and Fonsie Ryan, as they travel west from Dublin to Gloria Bog—the heart of the territory where so many of McGahern's stories take place—to attend the funeral of their uncle. Depicting...

That They May Face the Rising Sun, John McGahern's last novel, vividly brings to life a whole world and its people with insight, humour, and deep sympathy. Joe and Kate Ruttledge have come to Ireland from London in search of a different life. In passages of beauty and truth, the drama of a year in their lives and those of...

John McGahern is widely considered to be one of Ireland's greatest writers, with admirers including John Updike, Hilary Mantel, Colm Tóibín, and John Banville. Often hailed as his greatest work, Amongst Women is a poignant novel of family and togetherness. Once an officer in the Irish War for Independence, Moran is now a widower, eking out a living on a...