Jennifer McShane recommends your next unputdownable read.
In the dystopian world of 2233 in Hackney, an extraordinary woman named Jones, adorned with a plethora of tattoos, enters a tattoo parlour not to merely ink her body further, but to weave her life’s tapestry through a delicate line of ink and blood, creating a remarkable map on her skin, “a cinema screen” of stories. But where will the map lead her? Each one is a doorway she “fell” into by accident in a life past and present. We follow her as she recounts rememberings from INCEL murder to gender modification, slowly realising her mysterious ties to the woman inking her tattoos. Award-winning poet Joelle Taylor’s debut novel is an electrifying foray into fiction.
Feral by Gabrielle Filteau-Chiba, €13, Blackwell’s
Raphaëlle, a self-reliant forest warden, lives in solitude with her loyal dog, Coyote, deep in the wilderness of the Canadian forest. Fiercely independent, estranged from her family and cut off from civilisation, she is always armed, protecting herself from bears and other wild animals, and protecting them from the “poachers”. Soon Raphaëlle’s life of peace and quiet is disrupted when her dog is found severely injured. It’s not long before she realises she herself has become the prey of the forest’s ultimate predator – but this time, it’s no animal. Gabrielle Filteau-Chiba’s Feral is an absorbing eco-thriller with an arresting protagonist – you won’t be able to put this one down.
Green Dot by Madeleine Gray, €16.99, Dubray Books
Hera is in her mid-twenties and is trying to kick and scream a life for herself into existence. She starts a soulless office job and despairs, but her life gains more colour when she meets Arthur. He’s older and Hera used to date women, but drawn to a glimpse of another life, she’s euphoric, and neither detail matters. The fact that Arthur is married is, she decides, merely an obstacle. Until it’s not. Madeleine Gray’s brilliantly sharp Green Dot wrenchingly captures what so many of us yearn for: to be loved in the eyes of another for who we are. You’ll expect predictable events to follow – and they do – but it’s a book so hilariously real and devastating, you’ll never stop hoping (or reading).
Ava Anna Ada by Ali Millar, €27.54, Dubray Books
In Ali Millar’s sumptuous debut Ava Anna Ada, Anna and Ava meet on a dry, sweltering day where heat takes all oxygen out of the air. Anna is kicking a dog. Ava is compelled to walk towards her. Anna longs to be with Ava, she’s so like Ada, the daughter she lost. Well, so much and not nearly enough like Ada. Ava, in turn, is intrigued by Anna. She can’t see through her. But she tries too hard to be like Ada. And so, both women are drawn together by grief, obsession, loneliness – by a need for something else. Over the course of a week, they become caught up in each other’s claustrophobic worlds – only sure that things can’t end well. A gripping read tinged with lust, malice and foreboding. Millar is one to watch.
Night Swimmers by Roisin Maguire, €16.99, Dubray Books
In Night Swimmers by Roisin Maguire, we meet Grace. She lives alone in Ballybrady, a small, picturesque village on the east coast of Northern Ireland. The village is all she has known her whole life – bar a traumatic London stay in the 1980s – and she fills her days with hobbies and watching the tourists come and go. One of these tourists is Evan, taking a “forced” holiday from his life following the death of his infant daughter. He’s there a week when lockdown hits and meets Grace, who saves his life. His troubled son arrives and all three are forced to cocoon and confront demons – and the life they really want. An utterly charming take on community and connection.
This Plage of Souls by Mick McCormack, €16, Tramp Press
Mike McCormack’s absorbing This Plague of Souls, is a mystery that demands the reader’s attention. Nealon has just been released from prison. He returns to his house in Co Mayo to find no trace of his wife, Olwyn, and son, Cuan – the house is dark and empty. His only company are vaguely threatening phone calls from a stranger. He tries to settle in, calling his wife, never encountering a soul (his name spells a telling hint) while memories slowly start to return. He’s baffled, then afraid as he listens to news bulletins and radio clips, making his way to get answers, a slow dawning creeping over him. The Irish novelist masterfully knows how to draw you in; revealing just enough breadcrumbs to keep up the intrigue. His best yet.
