Autumn round up: Varadkar and Zappone tell all while Enright casts artful eye

From FitzGerald v Haughey and ‘Bailout Babies’ to Dan Brown and Anne Enright, Marjorie Brennan rounds up a selection of new and forthcoming releases

The rivalry between Charlie Haughey and Garret FitzGerald is the subject of Eoin O’Malley’s ‘Charlie vs Garret’. File picture: Photocall Ireland

NON-FICTION

There’s no shortage of memoirs on the Irish political front this autumn. 

Readers are no doubt already well aware of Leo Varadkar’s Speaking My Mind, which was recently reviewed here by Mick Clifford. 

One of Varadkar’s previous colleagues in government, Katherine Zappone, had a pretty controversial time in public life, to put it mildly. 

That period is covered by her book, Love In A Time of Politics (Hachette), with her personal life figuring prominently also.

Eoin O’Malley’s Charlie vs Garret (Eriu) takes a slightly different approach in outlining the long-running rivalry between Charlie Haughey and Garret FitzGerald, the opposing taoisigh who dominated Irish politics in the 1980s. 

For something in a similar vein, though from a later era, The Bailout Babies by Adam Maguire (Gill) looks at the generation which came of age during the Celtic Tiger era, with all the associated expectations, and who are now dealing with the housing crisis and various other challenges.

Another one sure to be of interest is Iain Dale’s The Taoiseach (Swift), based on his popular podcast.

Matt Cooper has a great track record in lively depictions of great Irish business success stories, including biographies of Tony O’Reilly and Michael O’Leary. 

Dynasty (Eriu) about the family behind Dunnes Stores, is sure to be no exception. Expect plenty of detail on the rise of the retail giant and the family drama which accompanied that rise.

Kilkenny hurler DJ Carey’s dramatic fall from grace is recounted in ‘The Dodger’. File picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

In other strands of Irish non-fiction, there is sure to be plenty of interest in The Dodger: DJ Carey and the Great Betrayal (Merrion Press) by Eimear Ní Bhraonáin, which will recount the story of the Kilkenny hurler’s dramatic fall from grace in recent years.

Interest in the brewing family is at an all-time high thank to the Netflix hit The House of Guinness, and capitalising on the continuing fascination are two books, Guinness: A Family Succession by Arthur Edward Guinness and Antonia Hart (Batsford Books) and The Houses Of Guinness: The Lives, Homes and Fortunes of Great Brewing Dynasty by Adrian Tinswood (also Batsford Books).

The market leader in the memoir genre for Irish readers this autumn is likely to be Miriam: Life, Work, Everything (Penguin Ireland). 

As one of Ireland’s best-known broadcasters, Miriam O’Callaghan has been a central part of Irish life for decades, with countless interviews under her belt — now it’s time to hear her own story.

Elizabeth Gilbert pioneered a whole new genre of memoir with Eat Pray Love, and has turned her significant writing talent to all types of fiction and non-fiction since. 

Her latest memoir, All the Way to the River (Bloomsbury), is a raw and powerful account of her relationship with her late partner, Rayya. 

Arundhati Roy, author of the best-selling God of Small Things, returns with Mother Mary Comes to Me (Penguin) a refreshingly honest exploration of her bittersweet relationship with her formidable mother. 

US journalist Susan Orlean is one of the great non-fiction writers of our times — her book Joyride: A Memoir (Avid Reader) takes us behind the curtain to see how she crafted some of her best-known pieces.

Also at the top of their game in the non-fiction stakes are Zadie Smith and Anne Enright. 

Dead and Alive by Smith (Penguin) and Attention: Writing on Life, Art and the World by Enright (Penguin) feature a selection of essays, lectures, and articles, perfect for dipping into.

Frog Routes, Polka Dot Newts and Other Treasures of Irish Nature (Gill) by Irish Examiner contributor Anja Murray is a must-read for the nature lover in your life. 

Ireland lost a great champion of the language and the natural world with the recent passing of Manchán Magan. 

Reading his last book, Ninety-Nine Words For Rain (And One For Sun) (Gill) would be a fitting way to mark his remarkable legacy.

FICTION

The big names are out in force this autumn — king of the page-turner Dan Brown continues the adventures of Professor Robert Langdon in The Secret of Secrets. 

Thomas Pynchon is back on the cultural radar with the release of the film One Battle After Another, based on his book Vineland. 

Devoted fans are sure to fall on his latest characteristic picaresque, Shadow Ticket (Penguin) with relish, while the critical and commercial success of the Paul Thomas Anderson movie will no doubt attract new readers to the reclusive author.

The Rose Field: The Book of Dust Volume Three (Penguin) by Philip Pullman brings to a conclusion the long-running His Dark Materials series, which began with Northern Lights. 

Pullman’s books were originally targeted at young adults but his readership goes far beyond any such boundaries, and they will be keen to learn more about Lyra Belacqua’s search for her daemon, Pan.

John Banville ventures into historical fiction with Venetian Vespers (Faber) while Colm Tóibín’s A Long Winter (Picador) is set in the Pyrenees, another rewarding read from a writer whose quality shows no signs of diminishing.

Claire-Louise Bennett is another highly regarded literary fiction author and her latest, Big Kiss, Bye-Bye (Fitzcarraldo) is a slim but not slight volume that is likely to feature on a few best-of lists this year.

Those looking for homegrown thrills should consider Marie Cassidy’s bone-chilling Deadly Evidence (Hachette Ireland), another gripping thriller from the former State pathologist. 

The prolific Sam Blake returns with Your Every Move (Corvus), due at the turn of the year; it tells the story of an Irish estate agent being stalked in London

The Jack Reacher juggernaut shows no signs of slowing down, even with Lee Child sharing driving duties with his brother Andrew. 

The 30th novel in the series, Exit Strategy (Bantam), lands this autumn. 

Fans of The Devil Wears Prada will love Workhorse by Caroline Palmer (Flatiron), in which a young assistant at an elite fashion magazine in New York City tries to work her way up the ladder.

The Four Spent the Day Together (Scribner) by Chris Kraus, author of the celebrated I Love Dick, blends true crime, thriller, and auto-fiction. 

There’s genre-bending in The Austen Affair by Madeleine Bell (St Martin’s Griffin), in which a couple of actors in a dramatisation of Northanger Abbey are whisked 200 years into the past. 

Love story and nourish thriller collide in Olivia Laing’s latest novel The Silver Book (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), which is set in a politically turbulent Italy in the ’70s.