Golddigger by Hilary McCollum

ISBN 978-1-59493-442-1

Winner of the Golden Crown Literary Society Award

for Historical Fiction

 

'Fans of Sarah Waters will love the rich description and tight pace of Golddigger, but McCollum's carefully constructed 19th century world is the real gold of the book. Fantastic.' (She Magazine)

 

Everything that mattered to Frances Moriarty was left behind in famine-ravaged Ireland, including the love of her life. Beset with grief and guilt, she is scraping out a shadowy existence as a New York shoeshine boy when word spreads: gold lines the riverbeds of California. Determined to find her fortune, Frances sets out on the overland trek to California’s gold fields. But her steps are haunted by a past she can’t outrun. 

 

'a beautifully rendered tale of love, loss and hope... a magnificent re-imagining of lesbian love.' (Libraries NI)

Funny Peculiar by Constance McCullagh

 

Set against the backdrop of the Troubles in 1970s Northern Ireland, Funny Peculiar is the moving story of a girl resisting the pain and shame of sexual abuse and staying in love with life. While the world around her erupts in blood and violence, the young Constance has her own battles to fight. Her father may be the town laughing stock but his temper has the whole family on edge. And Constance is in the firing line – from public put-downs to secret incest.

 

'Constance is a real-life, whole, little human whose spirit is larger than the undeniably ugly acts of her so-called "father". Funny Peculiar is a celebration, and a challenge for us to match her courage with our own.' 

Alice Vachss

'Far from being a depressing account, Funny Peculiar provides a candid account of a painful childhood which is nonetheless brimming with humour and a joie de vivre. The book, with its bitter-sweet humour, is not a typical portrait of abuse.'

Irish World