IMAGE Business Club members on the small habits that have improved their productivity
IMAGE Business Club members on the small habits that have improved their productivity

Sarah Finnan

Tried & Tested: IMAGE staff shares their favourite hydration hero
Tried & Tested: IMAGE staff shares their favourite hydration hero

IMAGE

Weekend Guide: 9 of the best events happening across Ireland
Weekend Guide: 9 of the best events happening across Ireland

Sarah Gill

Co-founder of the Hygiene Hub Ciára Dalton: ‘I wanted to make a tangible difference’
Co-founder of the Hygiene Hub Ciára Dalton: ‘I wanted to make a tangible difference’

Sarah Finnan

Winter wreaths you can use year after year
Winter wreaths you can use year after year

Megan Burns

There’s a new hydration mist on the market, and it didn’t come to play
There’s a new hydration mist on the market, and it didn’t come to play

IMAGE

Long live Irish shopping: inside Irish boutiques
Long live Irish shopping: inside Irish boutiques

Sarah Finnan

Dr Caroline West’s guide to talking to your teenagers about consent
Dr Caroline West’s guide to talking to your teenagers about consent

Megan Burns

This Art Deco Donnybrook house has been adapted for multi-generational living
This Art Deco Donnybrook house has been adapted for multi-generational living

Megan Burns

Havana Boutique owner Nikki Creedon on subversive monochrome
Havana Boutique owner Nikki Creedon on subversive monochrome

Suzie Coen

Image / Living / Culture

5 marvellous must-reads to add to your reading list this September


By Jennifer McShane
13th Sep 2021
5 marvellous must-reads to add to your reading list this September

All female authors, these are the five books to read this autumn.

Have you wrapped on all your summer “must-reads” and now looking for something a little different? Scratch that September reading list itch with these five novels all written by female authors.

The Weight of Love by Hilary Fannin (Doubleday Ireland, approx €15.99)
Robin and Ruth meet in the staff room of a London school in 1996. The two are drawn towards each other, even though they’re opposites in many ways; Robin almost instantly falls in love, but Ruth is much less sure. Robin then introduces Ruth to his childhood friend Joseph, and the two begin a passionate if tempestuous affair. Twenty years on, it’s Robin and Ruth who are married and have a now-grown son, Sid. As Sid prepares to emigrate, Robin and Ruth find their marriage in crisis – with Joseph never forgotten. A startling debut.

A Quiet Tide by Marianne Lee (New Island, approx €14.95)
This is a fictionalised account of the first female Irish botanist Ellen Hutchins, who lived in Bantry, Co Cork at the start of the 19th century. Internationally renowned within the world of botany, Hutchins’ work was stopped too soon, thanks to her short life, marred by ill health. Her legacy is given new life here as Lee tells of her talent, hope, heartbreak, and resilience, all interwoven with modern themes. An exciting new voice in Irish literature.

Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell (Tinder Press, approx €16.99) Maggie O’Farrell’s
Maggie O Farrell’s first historical novel is based on the short life of 11-year-old Hamnet, the son of William Shakespeare, and his wife Agnes, who we know as Anne Hathaway. Set in Tudor England, Hamnet’s name is believed by many to have been borrowed by Shakespeare’s most famous play, Hamlet. Here, O’Farrell creates an intimate, vivid portrayal of “what might have happened” regarding the death of their child and gives a fresh take on Shakespeare’s little-known family life. Atmospheric and engaging.

Oona by Alice Lyons (Lilliput Press, approx €15.99)
Oona is set in the Celtic Tiger years between New Jersey and County Leitrim, and entirely written without the letter O. Oona, an adolescent artist-in-the-making, lives in an affluent suburban culture of first-generation immigrants in the States. She lives within a culture of silence – so much so, that she is not told her mother lies dying of cancer upstairs in the family home. This ensures her journey to adulthood is fraught; she must always hide some part of herself. A poetic debut.

The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré (Sceptre, approx €14.99)
Nigerian teenager Adunni longs to be a teacher. Her mother, the breadwinner of the family, makes her father promise to continue her education, but after her death, he instead arranges for his young daughter to be married to escape their financial woes. Adunni flees her village in Lagos, determined to have a better life. Instead, she ends up as an indentured servant in an abusive household, where her hopes for learning remain far away. A must-read.