Grace Keane

Freelance journalist & RTÉ Culture book critic

Kristen Roupenian: operating in a weirdly wonderful sphere of abstract reality

Reviewed: You Know You Want This by Kristen Roupenian

Kristen Roupenian's stories You Know You Want range across the bizarre, the mundane, the unnerving and the comical. Each chapter is a surprise for the reader as they venture into the unknown, but for every leap of faith the reader is rewarded.

Books • 22 Apr 19

Sarah Henstra and the hot house of campus culture (Pic: Paola Scattolon)

Reviewed: The Red Word by Sarah Henstra

Grace Keane welcomes Canadian author Sarah Henstra's The Red Word, a novel 'to be bashed about and taken apart, deconstructed and constructed again.'

Books • 09 Apr 19

Donal Ryan: From a Low and Quiet Sea, now out in paperback

Reviewed: From a Low and Quiet Sea by Donal Ryan

Donal Ryan will delight his many fans with his moving novella From a Low and Quiet Sea - now out in paperback - which tells the story of so many lives within the span of a modest 183 pages.

Book Review • 26 Mar 19

Sarah Davis-Goff: dystopian vision of a post-apocalyptic Ireland

Book Review: Last Ones Left Alive by Sarah Davis-Goff

Last Ones Left Alive is Sarah David Goff's unnerving dystopian tale of a post-apocalyptic Ireland and the struggle of one strong willed young girl, Orpen, to find her place in it. Grace Keane has been engrossed.

Book Review • 25 Mar 19

Music Love Drugs War is Geraldine Quigley's coming of age tale about Derry youths

Review: Music Love Drugs War by Geraldine Quigley

Set in Derry in 1981 this is a coming of age tale about a group of friends growing up in a turbulent time and period in history that is well-known, yet perhaps not known so well from this everyday perspective. Grace Keane welcomes a striking debut.

Books • 19 Mar 19

Anna Burns: an earlier construction recently republished

Reviewed: Little Constructions by Anna Burns

First published in 2007, Little Constructions is a quirky, earlier novel from the author of Milkman, winner of the 2018 Man Booker Prize last year. It tackles big, dark and taboo topics, including murder, torture, infidelity, rape and incest.

Books • 04 Feb 19

Martina Devlin: her latest work is a strong contender for the school curriculum, writes Grace Keane

Book Review: Truth & Dare by Martina Devlin

Martina Devlin's Truth & Dare is an engaging, thought-provoking and inspirational collection of stories based on the lives of iconic Irish historical female figures.

Books • 14 Jan 19

Dermot Bolger: Grace Keane was impressed by the author's portrait of a singular Mayo woman

Reviewed: An Ark of Light by Dermot Bolger

An Ark of Light is a superbly written and beautifully moving book that brought this reader to tears. Not tears of sorrow or even joy, but tears of undeniable appreciation for such a cherished depiction of human character.

Books • 06 Nov 18

Cecelia Ahern: the bestselling author returns with volume in Roar

Reviewed: Roar by Cecelia Ahern

Roar is a book written by a woman, about women, for women, writes Grace Keane of stories from Cecelia Ahern, who is working with Nicole Kidman on a TV adaptation.

Books • 01 Nov 18

Nuala O'Connor's Becoming Belle: a determined young woman comes out on top despite myriad hardships in Victorian-era London.

Reviewed: Becoming Belle by Nuala O'Connor

A Victorian-era tale of one woman's ambition on the London stage whose life is beset by scandal and redeemed by ultimate triumph, Nuala O'Connor's new novel is inspired by the real-life Isabel Bilton.

Books • 17 Oct 18