John Banville was born in Ireland, in 1945. His first book, Long Lankin, was published in 1970. He lives in Dublin where he is at work on his latest novel.
Where They Lie (2024) Claire Coughlan "A thrillingly dark and atmospheric tale, richly evocative of its time, especially for those of us old enough to remember 1968."
The Helsinki Affair (2023) Anna Pitoniak "If you are one of those people--we are not a few--who think they don't write thrillers like they used to, then The Helsinki Affair is for you. An intricate, vigorously told and splendidly entertaining tale."
Life Sentences (2021) Billy O'Callaghan "A superb and moving novel . . . O'Callaghan is one of our finest writers, in the tradition of John McGahern and Brian Friel, and this is his best work yet."
The Bright Lands (2020) John Fram "John Fram's novel marks the debut of an already accomplished novelist. The Bright Lands is a dark tale luminously, and compellingly, told."
When All Is Said (2019) Anne Griffin "When All Is Said catches a world in a moment. Maurice Hannigan is a wonderful invention, whose bitter-sweet meditations will stay long in the reader's mind. Anne Griffin has fashioned a rare jewel."
Mary B (2018) Katherine J Chen "In giving Mary Bennet a resonant voice of her own, Chen has fashioned a luminous and enlightening novel that will entrance even, or especially, those who have not read Jane Austen’s masterpiece."
Orchid & the Wasp (2018) Caoilinn Hughes "Orchid & the Wasp is an ambitious, richly inventive and highly entertaining account of the way we live now. Caoilinn Hughes writes with authority and insight, and her novel is as up-to-date as tomorrow's financial-page headlines."
Last Stories (2018) William Trevor "He is one of the great short-story writers, at his best the equal of Chekhov."
The Secret Books (2017) Marcel Theroux "The Secret Books, ingenious, stylish, at once sardonic and accommodating, is a meditation on our abiding need for stories, which itself has a gloriously entertaining story to tell."
The Weight of Him (2017) Ethel Rohan "Ethel Rohan shows herself to be one of those rare, courageous writers who dare to take on the 'ordinary' and show just how extraordinary it really is. The Weight of Him is a brave and moving book."
The Temporary Gentleman (2014) (McNulty Family, book 3) Sebastian Barry "FASCINATING AND MOVING, [IT] SHOWS SEBASTIAN BARRY TO BE ONE OF OUR FINEST NOVELISTS-DARING, ACCOMODATING AND HUMANE."
The Twenty-Year Death (2012) Ariel S Winter "The Twenty-Year Death is a bravura debut, ingenious and assured, and a fitting tribute to the trio of illustrious ghosts who are looking with indulgence, surely over Ariel Winter’s shoulder."
Major / Minor (2011) Alba Arikha "A fiercely honest and compelling account of what it is to grow up in an artistic household."
Absolute Zero Cool (2011) Declan Burke "A genuinely original take on noir, inventive and funny, a cross between Flann O'Brien and Raymond Chandler."
The Truth About Love (2009) Josephine Hart "An ambitious and poetic weaving of a long-ago family tragedy into the tragic history, and histories, of our time. Josephine Hart has come home in triumph."
The Informers (2008) Juan Gabriel Vásquez "A fine and frightening study of how the past preys upon the present, and an absorbing revelation of a little-known wing of the theatre of the Nazi war."
Inside (2006) Kenneth J Harvey "A tough, unrelenting novel, thrilling and darkly eloquent and, in the end, a celebration of what life offers in even the harshest of circumstances."
A Landing On the Sun (1991) Michael Frayn "His work is as darkly ambiguous as that of Chekhov... and leaves one feeling an equal measure of laughter and sorrow."
Blood Meridian (1985) Cormac McCarthy "Unlike anything I have read in recent years, an extraordinary, breathtaking achievement."