Joanne Hayden
Delving below Healy’s surface is rewarding and illuminating
Literary fiction; Dermot Healy: TheCollected Short Stories; Edited by Keith Hopper and Neil Murphy; Dalkey Archive Press, €15
Ambitious morality tale loses its way
Fiction; Something To Hide; By Deborah Moggach; Chatto & Windus, €17.25
Bittersweet new play shows Belfast stripped bare
Visually arresting, Shibboleth revolves around the contentious building of a ‘peace wall’
Saggy, indulgent writing weakens latest de Bernières blockbuster
Fiction: The Dust that Falls From Dreams. By Louis de Bernières. Harvill Secker, €19. Reviewed by Joanne Hayden
South Africa’s troubled history viewed through a lens
fiction: Up Against the Night. By Justin Cartwright. Bloomsbury, €17.25.
Latest production of Wilde classic focuses on fun
Theatre: The Importance of Being Earnest. By Oscar Wilde. Directed by Kate Canning. Smock Alley Theatre until August 22. Rating: ***.
A fictional awakening
American author Emily Lockhart says that young adults embrace the experimentation in her bestselling family saga, We Were Liars
Contemporary sequel to Wilde classic is bold and relevant
Theatre: The Importance of Being Honest. By Billie Traynor. Directed by Liam Halligan. Bewley’s Café Theatre @ Powerscourt until July 25. Rating 3/5
A scandalous woman in 18th century Dublin
biography: Peg Plunkett: Memoirs of an Irish Whore. By Julie Peakman. Quercus, €19. Reviewed by Joanne Hayden.
Book review: The House of Hidden Mothers
Non-fiction: The House of Hidden Mothers. By Meera Syal. Doubleday, €25.50. Reviewed by Joanne Hayden.
Theatre: Casey’s anti-war play still packs a punch
Theatre: The Shadow of a Gunman. By Sean O’Casey. Directed by Wayne Jordan. Abbey Theatre until August 1. Rating ****. Reviewed by Joanne Hayden
Capturing the mundane in an oddly addictive way
Memoir: Dancing In The DarkMy Struggle: Book FourBy Karl Ove Knausgård. Harvill Secker, €19.
A timely and intelligent look at love
Theatre: In On It. Written by Daniel MacIvor. Smock Alley, Dublin. Until April 25th. Rating ***.
Abbey’s clever production led by Ireland’s finest
Theatre: A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Directed by Gavin Quinn. Abbey Theatre, Dublin. Runs until March 28. Rating: ***. Reviewed by Joanne Hayden.
Quiet, pithy tales in the Athenian sun
Outline By Rachel Cusk Faber, €21.50
Agony in Munich's departure lounge
Munich Airport. By Greg Baxter. Penguin, €17. Reviewed by Joanne Hayden.
