Anna Ralph, Anne Donovan and Bernard MacLaverty @ Litfest08 October 30, 2008

Three writers whose work explores the themes of childhood and coming of age.

Bernard MacLaverty

‘A book bursting with reasons for praise.’
New Statesman on his short story collection, Matters of Life
and Death.

Bernard MacLaverty was born in Belfast and lives in Scotland. His novels Lamb and Cal have been made into major films for which he wrote the screenplays. Grace Notes was awarded the Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year Award and shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the Whitbread Novel Award.

‘... he depicts unfulfilment with an authenticity unmatched in Irish fiction since James Joyce’s Dubliners…’ The Sunday Times on his latest novel The Anatomy School

Anne Donovan
‘A tender, lyrical coming-of-age narrative, its people drawn with love in that singing Glasgow voice that is Donovan’s signature’ The Guardian

Anne Donovan’s first novel, Buddha Da, was shortlisted for the Orange Prize, the Whitbread First Novel Award and the Scottish Book of the Year Award.

In her new novel, Being Emily, we meet Fiona, who thinks that life in her family’s tenement flat is far less interesting than Emily Brontë’s. But tragedy is not confined to Victorian novels. Following the devastating events of a single day, her family can never be the same.

Moving, funny and heart-warming, Being Emily is about a young girl trying to find her place in the world amid the turmoil that only your own family can create.

Anna Ralph

Before I Knew Him is the second novel from the author of The Floating Island, which won the Betty Trask prize this year.

As Leo Fisch’s wedding day approaches, his fiancé is disturbed by how little she knows about his past.

When a shocking discovery devastates Leo’s home town, a figure from childhood is thrust back into his life. Unlikely friends, they are bound by a shared summer – and a shared secret – they had pledged to forget.

‘Strong and evocative, with a rewarding depth of emotion. Her writing has a direct, sensuous feel which I liked very much … it has a touch of D.H. Lawrence about it.’
Helen Dunmore on Floating Island

Official Website: http://www.litfest.org/