Gorgeously illustrated story of quilting project and women portrayed therein
This week it’s a mix of fiction, non-fiction and history with a little bit of romance thrown in.
A Stitch of Time, Kay Kearns, Choice Publishing, €15
In the early days of the commemorations marking the foundation of the state, the Erne Quilters in Cavan were asked by Cavan County Museum to create a commemorative quilt, loosely around the theme of 1916 to 2016. The resulting quilt, a work of original and outstanding beauty, now has its rightful place in the museum and one of the quilters, Kay Kearns, decided to write a book about the project.
The book also includes potted biographies of the three women featured on the quilt. These are Agnes O’Farrelly, who was from Cavan, Countess Markievicz, and Elizabeth O’Farrell, three women who dedicated their lives to the shaping of modern Ireland. While we all know Markievicz, little is known about the other two and thanks to this quilt their memory is revived in colourful glory.
Kearns’s book is a gorgeously illustrated story of the quilting project, the women portrayed therein, and the joyous energy of women working together in a common cause. Available from Choice Publishers in Drogheda.
The Light at Evening, Kevin McManus, The Book Social, €14.99
Ciarán is in the throes of late middle age, has recently buried his father, and is attempting to support his wife, who is suffering from cancer, while also minding his frail mother. The mother is devastated and becoming increasingly dependent on Ciarán, who’s being torn in several directions.
As the seasons change and he settles in to a protracted grief process, Ciarán has to decide for himself what is important. He is torn between being the dutiful husband and son and the dreams he’s been nursing. Is this to be his end of days, minding everyone else while nobody minds him, or is there something more joyous to be found in the mundanity of his life?
Exploring themes of depression, ageing and responsibility, this novel is not as gloomy as you might think and offers a little redemption for one man who decides to press the reset button and witness the beauty that’s around him.
Over-excited marketeers compare him with titans like McGahern, Tóibín and Claire Keegan, which serves nobody well, especially Kevin McManus. His themes may be understated and his settings rural, but his style is, his own, and this book is a little beauty.
The Laverys, Patricia O’Reilly, Patricia O’Reilly, €11.99
Painter John Lavery and his beautiful American wife Hazel were, in their day, among the most prominent socialites in London, friends of Irish republicans and British parliamentarians alike, but also friendly with almost all of the important figures in the UK in the 1920 and ‘30s.
Lavery was born into a poor Catholic family in Belfast and Hazel born into middle-class Chicago. Most of us remember Lady Hazel Lavery as the face on our banknotes depicting Cathleen ní Houlihan and in fact John Lavery painted her more than 400 times. That’s what you’d call a muse!
Strangely for the time, it was Hazel that did the chasing after she met Lavery, 24 years her senior, in a French resort. Her mother, always with an eye on upward social mobility, wouldn’t hear of her marrying a mere painter and insisted instead she marry a successful Chicago doctor. She did. He died shortly afterwards and they had one daughter.
Lavery was also widowed with a daughter. And their eventual coming together was fortuitous but wasn’t always plain sailing. O’Reilly takes us behind the scenes of this famous couple in her novel, offering a private glimpse of two strong characters who lived in the limelight.
A Winter Wedding, Felicity Hayes-McCoy, Hachette, €16.99
Media celeb Lisette Lynch is hoping to have a quiet, intimate family wedding for her and husband to be. The limelight is fine, and it’s where she ‘lives’ but something as important as her wedding is not, she thinks, an event she wants splurged all over social media. Wouldn’t it be nice to make a change?
Her mother Ali, a successful magazine editor, is having different ideas. She’s thinking a real splash of an event; big, bling, loud and lavish (or some might just say chav).
Caught between these two warring factions is Lisette’s sister Jools, who offers to plan the wedding in an attempt to keep both mother and daughter happy. But the mother Ali has a secret, something she’s never revealed to the daughters she dotes on, thinking that the burden can only be borne by her alone. And secrets have a habit, especially in novels, of being uncovered.
This is a warm hug of a novel, especially considering the times that we’re in, about the importance of family and connection. Curl up at the fire and enjoy.
The Love Contract, Steph Vizard, Head of Zeus, €11.99
An enjoyable rom-com featuring single mother Zoe living in Melbourne, and her new neighbour, Will. Zoe’s maternity leave is almost up and she needs to find childcare for her baby daughter Hazel. But it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find and what she does uncover is offered at prohibitive cost. Enter annoying neighbour Will, a lawyer whose firm are currently in a ‘family values’ phase. So much so that if single Will pretends he’s the father of little Hazel, there could possibly be a promotion in it! Oh, what a tangled web we weave, eh? An amusing and chaotic love story.
Footnotes
The Cork International Film Festival runs from November 12 to 22 and is in its 71st year. Lots of varied choices and an event not to be missed for movie buffs. See corkfilmfest.org for details.
There’s no need to go to Prague or other far-flung places for your Christmas Market experience. Cork is hosting no fewer than six Christmas markets and they open on November 15. See glow-cork-christmas for full details.
Nearer to home for most of us, the Samhain Festival of Food and Culture in Kells runs from this coming Thursday, November 5 to the 8th. Full details on foodcultureirleand.ie.