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Even before I married a boy of Celtic descent and acquired the right proper name of O'Hara, I was always drawn to the stories of the Irish, with their balance between reverence and irreverence, wit and misery. So when I was offered IRISH GIRLS ABOUT TOWN, a collection of short tales by sixteen of today's premiere and rising star female Irish authors, I replied "of course." And I am glad I did.
Joan O'Neill's "De-Stress" asks the age-old question, "Can one really mend a broken heart by falling into the arms of an incredibly handsome, tall young man with black hair and Mediterranean-blue eyes with biceps the size of babies' heads?" Apparently, yes, one can.
Every woman will find herself nodding her head in agreement as she reads Catherine Barry's "The Twenty Eighth Day." Read on: "I know I have PMT (PMS). I know what it is. I know why it happens. I know all about the hormonal imbalance. But all the knowledge in the world will not abate the terrific storm that looms in our normally happy abode. I know it passes and I know I can't help the way I feel. All the same, it doesn't stop me from wanting to stick a knife in Michael's eye."
Tessa, "desperate to get married," is Mary Ryan's "A Good Catch," an innocent. She moves out on her own, late in life, determined to find a husband and instead finds herself unknowingly living next door to a prostitute. Naïve to the end, even after discovering who her neighbor is, Tessa refuses to see it.
In Marian Keyes's "Soulmates," Georgia and Joel are the perfect couple. Born on the same day in the same year in the same city, how could they not be meant for each other? They move in together, marry and have children; in other words, they make all the predictable steps a couple is expected to make, only they do them perfectly. No matter what the rite of passage, none of their friends can top how Georgia and Joel pull it off. But then there's that pesky old adage 'all good things must come to an end.' And when the couple begins to question if they were even born on the same day, life unravels...perfectly.
That's just a sampling --- a quarter of the stories --- that await you in IRISH GIRLS ABOUT TOWN. If you enjoy the charm of Irish literature like I do, then you will love this collection of Maeve Binchy, Sarah Webb, Tina Reilly and others.
--- Reviewed by Roberta O'Hara
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