Four Irish authors are included in TIME's 100 Must-Read Books 2023 list.Getty Images
Four Irish authors feature in TIME's 100 Must-Read Books 2023 list which was published today, November 14.
TIME says its list of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2023 is a collection of the "fiction, nonfiction, and poetry that entertained and enlightened us" this year.
Ireland, with its seemingly endless wealth of literary talent, unsurprisingly made a strong showing on this year's list as new books from Irish authors Paul Murray, Nicole Flattery, Caroline O'Donoghue, and Anne Enright made the cut.
It’s that time of year.
Here is TIME’s official list of the 100 must-read books of 2023, featuring something for every reader, from Prince Harry’s Spare to James McBride’s The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store to Jesmyn Ward’s Let Us Descend https://t.co/yTricRm3MP
— TIME (@TIME) November 14, 2023
"The Bee Sting" by Paul Murray
"The Bee Sting" is the fourth novel from Dublin-born-and-bred author Paul Murray, following "An Evening of Long Goodbyes," "Skippy Dies," and "The Mark and the Void."
As TIME puts it, "Balancing humor with devastation, [Murray] creates a portrait of a fractured family attempting to survive their personal struggles amid what increasingly feels like the end of the world."
You can read an extract of "The Bee Sting" here on CBS News.
"Nothing Special" by Nicole Flattery
Nicole Flattery, a native of Mullingar in Co Westmeath, is a previous winner of the An Post Irish Book Award and the Kate O’Brien Prize.
TIME describes "Nothing Special" as a "nostalgic coming-of-age narrative" that "flips back and forth between the past and present, and serves as a clever critique of modern-day parasocial relationships, surveillance, voyeurism, and performance."
You can read an extract of "Nothing Special" here on Granta.
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"The Rachel Incident" by Caroline O’Donoghue
Caroline O'Donoghue, who was born in Co Cork and now lives in London, is a bestselling novelist, podcaster, and screenwriter. "The Rachel Incident" is being adapted for television by Universal Studios.
Set in Ireland in 2010, "The Rachel Incident," TIME says, "encompasses what it means to be a very specific age during a very specific era in a very specific place.
"It’s a coming of age story, but also ultimately a love story—revealed in starkly funny and heartbreaking turns."
"The Wren, the Wren" by Anne Enright
"The Wren, the Wren" is Dublin native and multi-award-winning author Anne Enright's eighth book.
"Enright, a master of family narratives, creates a powerful and disquieting meditation on the relationship between parents and their children," TIME says of "The Wren, the Wren."
You can read an extract of "The Wren, the Wren" here on Penguin Books.