Tatty by Christine Dwyer Hickey is this year’s selection for the annual Dublin: One City One Book during the month of April. The newly published edition, thanks to New Island Books, launched today with a newer, “bolder” cover, as the author put it in her speech, as well as a new introduction by Dermot Bolger.
The book focuses on Tatty’s childhood in a Dublin family struggling with a growing dependency on alcohol– as Christine Dwyer Hickey calls it, the “disease nobody dares mention.” Through the lens of a growing, unfiltered child, Tatty tells the story of her family as she becomes more and more aware of where her family differs from others.
Dublin City Librarian Mairead Owens says: “We work hard to choose the right book every year and we’ve struck gold with this exquisite story, so expertly woven by Christine Dwyer Hickey, one of Dublin’s finest authors.” The book chosen every year must have a connection to Dublin either through the author(s) or content, while having as broad an appeal as possible.
Dublin: One City, One Book is an award-winning Dublin City Council initiative, led by Dublin City Libraries, which encourages everyone to read a book connected with the capital city during the month of April every year.
Read the updated introduction by Dermot Bolger or preorder Tatty today.
Christine Dwyer Hickey is a novelist and short story writer. Tatty (New Island 2004 and Vintage 2005) was chosen as one of the 50 Irish Books of the Decade, nominated for the Orange Prize and shortlisted for the Hughes & Hughes Irish Novel of the Year Award. Her other novels, The Dublin Trilogy, The Dancer, The Gambler and The Gatemaker (1995-2000) received wide critical acclaim and The Dancer was shortlisted for Irish Novel of the Year in 1995. Christine’s novels have been widely translated.
by Alex McKenna
