No Ordinary Bread
By Jim Ward
Ace of Swords Publishing, €18
An ambitious, promising debut novel of conflicting ideologies fishing for men’s souls. The story is set in rural China in the midst of the civil war, and is experienced through the eyes of a 10-year-old boy witnessing first-hand the spiritual revolutions within the country: both the surgent Chinese Communist Party, and the Catholic Church missionaries in the determined teachings of a Belgian Jesuit. A clash of wills is inevitable and lives are changed forever. Ward writes in an unadorned, straight-ahead style (which works well considering the narrator), and he shifts easily into expansive, more philosophical realms when the political provocateurs push their way to the centre of the story. A cleverly structured historical novel, rich with lively dialogue; a fine first book. NJ McGarrigle
Journeywork: A Creative Life
By Dave Duggan
Nerve Centre, £12.99
Derry-based writer and dramatist Dave Duggan’s luminous collection of 13 essays offers a deeply personal map of a life shaped by story, language, resilience, and artistic vocation. Moving between memoir, reflections on illness, his working-class background, and meditations on creative practice, Duggan explores imagination with clarity, grace, and hard-won wisdom. “Adapt and persist. Don’t doubt,” he urges, a quiet anthem of endurance throughout. The author is edging towards 70, but his work exudes the energy of a writer just beginning – curious, lucid, and alive to the world. “My father had books. My mother had songs,” he writes. With wit, humility and insight, Duggan weaves local politics, international literature, and poignant moments, including an Oscar nomination for Dance Lexie Dance, into a celebration of creativity, resilience and artistic bravery. Adam Wyeth
Can I Have Your Charm Bracelet When You Die? A Dublin Childhood
By Sheila Hamilton
Hen’s Teeth, €17.50
Esther, an adored aunt of the child narrator, is having man trouble. “Hold the bone and the dog will follow”, is her mother’s play-hard-to-get advice. “He’s gorgeous looking, a model for a coddle he’ll do for a stew!”, says a sister. Everyday joys and cares in two loving households fill two-thirds of this endearing 1970s-1980s south-inner-city memoir “sprinkled with the lightest embellishment”. Childhood is followed by interludes in New York and Amsterdam that do not lessen the family bonds as cruel illnesses blight the adult lives of the author, her mother and Esther. Hilarious, then heartbreaking, this is a story “shared with love” and with charm. Ray Burke
