Donal Ryan among new titles in August

Donal Ryan’s The Queen of Dirt Island released this month

First Flush is out, our fully searchable data-base of new books published each month.

Among the new titles this month is a book many have been anticipating—The Queen of Dirt Island (Doubleday) by Donal Ryan, released on 18th August.

See the full list of new books, or have a browse through the back catalogue on First Flush.

The Queen of Dirt Island

A searing, jubilant novel about four generations of women and the love and stories that bind them.

The Aylward women are mad about each other, but you wouldn’t always think it. You’d have to know them to know – in spite of what the neighbours might say about raised voices and dramatic scenes – that their house is a place of peace, filled with love, a refuge from the sadness and cruelty of the world. 

Their story begins at an end and ends at a beginning. It’s a story of terrible betrayals and fierce loyalties, of isolation and togetherness, of transgression, forgiveness, desire, and love. About all the things family can be and all the things it sometimes isn’t. More than anything, it is an uplifting celebration of fierce, loyal love and the powerful stories that last generations.

‘His paragraphs are unnoticeably beautiful, his heart always on show’—ANNE ENRIGHT