Deirdre Madden: 5 books

A quiet but emotionally resonant portrait of a middle-class family in pre-crash Ireland, Deirdre Madden’s latest novel is understated and gorgeously crafted. Madden touches upon abstract ideas in a clear and accessible way, letting her characters graze past one another even as they search for intimacy...

All Over Ireland, edited by Deirdre Madden (Molly Fox's Birthday, Time Present and Time Past), continues the tradition of featuring the work of both new and established writers, including Colm Tóibín, Mary Morrissy and Eoin McNamee. These diverse and accomplished stories, by turns dazzling, thoughtful...

When the timid millionaire pianist Barney Barrington moves to Woodford, extraordinary things start to happen. For local millionaire Jasper Jellit doesn't like all the attention Barney is getting and will do anything to upstage him, including hosting an extravagant chocolate party for Woodford residents. But...

There's a wonderful emerald necklace called The Green Marvel hidden somewhere in Haverford-Snuffley Hall. Sneaky Jasper Jellit takes a job there as a gardener, hoping to get his hands on the jewels. But the house is haunted, his two pet rats Rags and Bags give him no end of trouble, and then there's...

A Finalist for the Orange Prize It is the height of summer, and celebrated actor Molly Fox has loaned her house in Dublin to a friend while she is away performing in New York. Alone among all of Molly's possessions, struggling to finish her latest play, she looks back on the many years and...