New titles from Jodi Picoult, Cecelia Ahern and Paula Hawkins are among some of the most exciting book releases coming this month.
The Drowned by John Banville
1 October, Hanover Square Press
This richly atmospheric new title is all about a woman’s sudden disappearance in a small coastal town in 1950s Ireland, where nothing is as it seems. At once a searing mystery and a profound meditation on the hidden worlds we all inhabit, The Drowned is the next great Strafford and Quirke novel from a beloved writer at the top of his game.
Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst
3 October, Pan Macmillan
A new title from Booker Prize-winning author Alan Hollinghurst, Our Evenings is a dark, luminous and wickedly funny portrait of modern England through the lens of one man’s acutely observed and often unnerving experience. It is a story of race and class, theatre and sexuality, love and the cruel shock of violence, from one of the finest writers of our age.
Women Living Deliciously by Florence Given
8 October, Octopus Publishing Group
A book that wants us to fall in love with our lives, Women Living Deliciously will help women uncover the sense of awe and wonder that has been buried by the layers of shame, perfectionism and self-objectification that get piled on us by the patriarchy. From international-bestselling author Florence Given, this book will unpack the many barriers women face when trying to access joy so that they can discover the delicious life that’s theirs for the taking.
Nature Boy: A journey of birdsong and belonging by Seán Ronayne
10 October, Hachette Books
Seán Ronayne always knew he was different. Nicknamed ‘nature boy’ by the other kids, as a child he struggled to fit in and regularly escaped to the woods and coastlines around his home in Cork. The natural world was his happy place and where he discovered his true passion – identifying and understanding birds through their sound and song. A passion that would save him in the weeks and months following a near-death experience in his late teens, even in the darkest times, nature became his guiding light. At the age of thirty-two, Seán received an autism diagnosis and his life finally started to make sense.
By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult
10 October, Michael Joseph
What if the greatest writer of all time isn’t who we think he is? What if he isn’t even a he? Step back four hundred years and discover the female author who hid behind the mask of the man we know as William Shakespeare. Moving between Elizabethan England and modern-day Manhattan, By Any Other Name is a beautifully written, compelling novel that explores the theme of identity and the ways in which two women, centuries apart—one of whom might just be the real author of Shakespeare’s plays—are both forced to hide behind another name to make their voices heard.
Into the Storm by Cecelia Ahern
10 October, Harper Collins
It is a wild night in the middle of December, and GP Enya is crouched over a teenage boy, performing CPR in the freezing rain. She found him on a mountain road near Dublin, the victim of a hit-and-run. The boy survives, but Enya goes to pieces. She leaves her husband, her son, and everything she knows to start a new life in remote rural Ireland. But even in the quiet of Abbeydooley, beneath the boughs of an ancient tree, Enya is still haunted by that night in the rain. Can the stories of strangers and a land steeped in legend lay the ghosts of her past to rest? Or will the storm she’s outrunning finally catch up with her?
The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins
10 October, Doubleday
From the global bestselling author of The Girl on the Train, this may just be Paula Hawkins’ most suspenseful and powerful thriller yet. Eris is an island with only one house, one inhabitant and one way out. Unreachable from the Scottish mainland for twelve hours each day, it was once home to Vanessa, a famous artist whose notoriously unfaithful husband disappeared twenty years ago. Now it’s home to Grace, a solitary creature of the tides, content in her own isolation. But when a shocking discovery is made in an art gallery far away in London, a visitor comes calling. And the secrets of Eris threaten to emerge.
A Kennedy Affair by Emily Hourican
17 October, Hachette Ireland
When Kathleen ‘Kick’ Kennedy left England to return to America, Europe was facing war and Billy Cavendish, future Duke of Devonshire and the man she loves, had told her he could never marry her. Now, in 1943, as London stands a shell of its former self, Kick returns hoping to reunite with Billy – but there are many obstacles ahead. Inspired by real events, A Kennedy Affair is a powerful story of friendship, forbidden passion – and how in the worst of times we can discover the best of each other.
The Home Sommelier by Brigid O’Hora
17 October, Hachette Books
Become an expert at choosing the wine you love. Wine expert Brigid O’Hora is sharing her expert knowledge and advice to help you select the perfect wine to fit every occasion, no matter your budget. From how to tell good wine from bad and learning more about the regions and grapes you love, to tips on pairing the food you’re eating with the perfect tipple, The Home Sommelier uncorks the secrets to getting the very best from your wine experience.
In Too Deep by Lee Child
22 October, Bantam Press
Reacher had no idea where he was. No idea how he got there. But someone must have brought him. And shackled him. And whoever had done those things was going to rue the day. That was for damn sure. Jack Reacher wakes up, alone, in the dark, handcuffed to a makeshift bed. His right arm has suffered some major damage. His few possessions are gone. He has no memory of getting there. The last thing Reacher can recall is the car he hitched a ride in getting run off the road. The driver was killed. His captors assume Reacher was the driver’s accomplice and patch up his wounds as they plan to make him talk. A plan that will backfire spectacularly.
The Waiting by Michael Connelly
22 October, Orion Books
LAPD Detective Renée Ballard gets a DNA hit in a case that has gone unsolved for twenty years. A recently arrested man is genetically related to a serial rapist who terrorised the city of angels. But when the relative is revealed, it is the last person you want to accuse unless the evidence is watertight. An electrifying and authoritative page-turner from one of the greatest crime writers of all time and the author behind Amazon Prime’s Bosch and Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer.
Time of the Child by Niall Williams
24 October, Bloomsbury
A heartbreaking and life-affirming new novel about small towns and second chances from bestselling Irish author Niall Williams, Time of the Child centres around Doctor Jack Troy, who was born and raised in the little town of Faha, but his responsibilities for the sick and his care for the dying mean he has always been set apart from his community. He and his daughter’s lives are turned upside down when a baby is left in their care.
Web of Betrayal by Nicola Tallant
24 October, ERIU
Murder and deception and the underworld of Irish gangland intertwine in a deadly dance of power and survival. A murder in Belfast of gangland’s most wanted man, Robbie Lawlor, uncovers a web of betrayal that spans out across the Irish underworld and beyond. Follow a bloody trail that leads all the way into the heart of one of the worst gang feuds Ireland has ever seen which culminates in the Narco-style dismemberment of a teenage boy, Keane Mulready-Woods. As the curtain is pulled back on the inner workings of the world of organised crime, a cast of ruthless characters take centre stage for their place in a double cross plot that reads like a fast-paced thriller.
This Boy’s Heart: Secrets From An Irish Childhood by John Creedon
October, Gill Books
John Creedon is a renowned storyteller. Following on from the sensational success of An Irish Folklore Treasury, with his new book he’s seeking to capture the folklore of his own childhood. This Boy’s Heart is set in a home bursting with humanity, with a cast of a dozen children and another dozen adults, including beloved aunts, an American writer, an African doctor and a Scottish bookie. Set in wildly contrasting worlds, these stories of friendship, fun, family and folklore take you on a heart-warming journey into an Irish childhood.
What We Know Now by Jenny Kelly and Mairéad Ronan
24 October, Gill Books
In the course of a twenty-year friendship, podcasters Jenny Kelly and Mairéad Ronan have experienced single life, career highs, break-ups, make-ups, marriages, divorce, motherhood, death, diets, hairstyles, stress, ageing, lifestyle dilemmas, sadness and lots and lots of good times too. Of a middling age, and after years of talking (and cups of tea), they no longer sweat the small stuff. What We Know Now is full of their down-to-earth advice on the serious (and sometimes funny) business of life.
Gliff by Ali Smith
31 October, Hamish Hamilton
Gliff is a novel about how we make meaning and how we are made meaningless. With a nod to the traditions of dystopian fiction, a glance at the Kafkaesque, and a new take on the notion of classic, it’s a moving and electrifying read, a vital and prescient tale of the versatility and variety deep-rooted in language, in nature and in human nature.
The Hike Life: 50 More To Explore by Roz Purcell
31 October, Bonnier Books
Showcasing 50 new trails with all the same valuable information like trail details, route descriptions, best photo spots, where to eat afterwards, great places for a wild dip or somewhere wonderful to visit so every hike can be a full day of adventure, this book gives Roz Purcell the opportunity to show off places across Ireland that aren’t as well known, fantastic trails like Strickeen in the Gap of Dunloe or Moylussa, Clare’s highest peak and even one of her own favourite dog-friendly trails outside of Dublin ‘The Devil’s Glen’. It’s the perfect way to get out into the great outdoors and experience the beauty of Ireland at your own pace.
On Duty (A Memoir) by John O’Driscoll
31 October, Gill Books
No Assistant Garda Commissioner has ever written a memoir before; On Duty promises to be a unique insight into policing operations in Ireland at the highest level. Between 2016 and his retirement in 2022, Assistant Garda Commissioner John O’Driscoll was the public face of Garda operations targeting organised crime. This put him at the centre of a long-running quest to bring down the Kinahan drug cartel, culminating in US sanctions being imposed – an unprecedented development spearheaded by O’Driscoll.
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