16 Responses to “Wanted: Irish romances”

1. If you read Maeve Binchy, there are a slew of other authors you could look at, though I suppose they’d be categorised as Women’s fiction or Chick Lit, or something - I don’t think Romance exists as a genre in the same way over here.
   But you could consider Shelia O’Flanagan, Patricia Scanlan, Marian Keyes, Cecilia Ahern, Cathy Kelly, Colette Caddle and Monica McInerney. There are others - that’s just off the top of my head. I can’t really recommend titles, because while I’ve read at least one book by most of them, none are real favourites of mine.
   Truth to tell, I tend to avoid Irish set Romances.
   Apart from Nora Roberts’ books, which I didn’t like because they are set in American-Tourist Ireland, I’ve recently read Briar Rose by Kimberley Cates - but I didn’t really like that either. It’s the fairy thing - once a character starts talking lovingly about ‘the little people’ I want them to die. (And thinking of that, I bought a Christmas themed Romance from a list at AAR which may have been set in Ireland. I’ll try find it. Once it appeared that one of the characters was going to be a leprachaun, or something, I abandoned it unread. But tastes differ, and obviously someone at AAR had really enjoyed it.)

   by Marianne McA on February 28th, 2008 at 9:24 am
   
   

2. Found it! It was ‘The Christmas Spirit’ by Patricia Wynn, and according to the blurb, she was an elf, not a leprachaun, so it’s probably set in England.

   by Marianne McA on February 28th, 2008 at 9:32 am
   
   

3. Both my husband and I have a healthy dollop of Irish in our backgrounds, and for a long time we were active in our local (at the time) Irish American communities. Our daughters were Irish dancers, and competed extensively at feiseanna in this country and Canada. And, with the exception of Maeve Binchy, I avoid Irish-set romances like the plague. One reason is the one Marianne McA referred to in her post: the faith-and-begorrah hokiness that many American writers seem to be afflicted with when they write about Ireland. The other reason is that in historicals, it is hard to find a time period that doesn’t have a truly horrific event in the recent past, or looming in the near future. I thought Carla Kelly did a superb job touching on this in “Reforming Lord Ragsdale,” but it is also one of her books that I have the hardest time believing in the HEA.

   by Aoife on February 28th, 2008 at 9:56 am
   
   

4. One other suggestion, for a historical. Maurice Walsh wrote a lovely historical romance called “Blackcock’s Feather.” It is OOP, but not that hard to find. It is set in Elizabethan Ireland, and he deftly avoids some of the obvious stereotypes while making the political realities of the time, such as the English occupation of Ireland, an integral part of the story. The writing style is dated, as you would expect from the time it was written, but it is one of the few historicals about Ireland that I have read that I actually believe the H/H have a chance of living a happy life.

   by Aoife on February 28th, 2008 at 10:05 am
   
   

5. I haven’t read it (still in the TBR) but there’s Luck Of The Devil by Emily Baker which was published back 2005. Looks like it’s still in print too.

   by Wendy on February 28th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
   
   

6. I avoid (traditional) romances set in both Ireland and Scotland, but it’s been a long time since I’ve though about why. It’s interesting to see these perspectives.

   On the “pseudo Irishness” problem, in market terms, I’m not surprised if many books set in Ireland are tailored more toward Irish-American nostalgia than toward a genuinely Irish perspective. Over 10% of the US population claims Irish heritage–that’s 34.5 million people, or nine times the population of Ireland!

   in historicals, it is hard to find a time period that doesn’t have a truly horrific event in the recent past, or looming in the near future

   I’ve seen similar comments on the difficulty of setting historical romances in African-American communities. If the story emphasizes the horrors, I can see the problem with creating an implausible happy ending. OTOH, many interesting stories happen around the fringes of such events; and not every novel has to center on those tragedies. Of course, if an author doesn’t attend to the tragedy, she risks being accused of using major upheavals as “wallpaper”–some critics feel Jane Austen did this.

   On another level, I wonder whether setting romances in such periods conflicts with some readers’ idea of romance as an optimistic genre. I’m content with a qualified happy ending–not every couple has to either inhabit a perfect world, or save the world along the road to personal happiness. But I think within the genre’s fans there’s a tug toward a perfectly happy ending, and an opposing tug toward something grittier or “realistic” (whatever that means).

   And, er, yes, Irish romance… um, there’s Anne McCaffrey’s three short gothic novels. That’s all I’ve got. They’re full of forced seduction, mysterious older men, and all the hallmarks of that period and style!

   by RfP on February 28th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
   
   

7. I’d forgotten about Anne McCaffrey - don’t think of her as a romance writer. I remember thinking The Kilternan Legacy was set in an Ireland I recognised, though that was what - twenty five years ago? - and things have changed a lot.

   Diana Norman had an Elizabethan Irish set book as well - called something like ‘The Pirate Queen’ - very good, but I found it hard to read - just because of the descriptions of the atrocities of the period. From what I remember, the heroine is Irish, but grew up in England, and her divided loyalties allow the author room to show both sides of the situation.

   by Marianne McA on February 28th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
   
   

8. Jennie (Jennie’s B(ook)log) just reviewed a Blaze called Doing Ireland! by Kate Hoffman. I’m thinking no one here would enjoy it Hokey Irish magic.

   Marian Keyes is my favorite chick lit author. Really good–funny and poignant and not too cliched.

   Michelle Willingham is a Harlequin Historical author who writes Ancient Irish settings (I think). I’ve got one in the TBR.

   by Devon on February 28th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
   
   

9. Marianne M.- I copied the list of authors you gave me. The only one I’ve read is Cecelia Ahern and only one of hers, so I think I’ll have to delve into the women’s fiction side of things. I too disliked the couple of books I’ve read by K. Cates. They just never “took” with me. There are lists of Irish romances online, but I’m unsure they’re truly what I’m looking for. And I’m too lazy to check them all out, truth be told.

   Americans’ nostalgia for the land of their forebearers is powerful and often will crumble under the assault of research. Then again, though, do foreigners get a real understanding of the US if they haven’t been here and must rely on second or third hand information?

   Aoife- I’ll look for the Carla Kelly book, I’ve liked the ones of hers I’ve been able to find. As to feiseanna, I didn’t realize they were popular here, although I’m unsurprised given our fondness for the old country. I’ve written down your book selection too and I hope my inter library loan might be able to find it for me.

   Wendy- I’ll do a little diggiing and see what Luck Of The Devil by Emily Baker is all about. Thanks for the tip!

   RfP- The issue of wallpaper vs. realistic history will not go away. Personally I don’t mind a little grit in my romances and a qualified HEA would and has worked for me in the past. I read relatively widely outside romance so maybe I’m different from some readers (??). Not intending to offend anyone, just observing that many romance readers don’t want their boat rocked, and that’s perfectly ok by me. I used to have one of those McCafffrey books somewhere, I’ll have to look for it.

   Devon- I have a book by Marian Keyes in the TBR. Don’t remember which one though. Maybe I should make March my own Irish reading challenge!

   by Amanda on February 29th, 2008 at 12:13 am
   
   

10. Hi, I am not sure if this will quality or not, but I recommend the book Nell by Jeanette Baker. I read this book a couple of years ago so lets see how well I remember the story. There are two love stories in the book, one that takes place in present day and one that takes place back in the past. I don’t remember how far back in the past maybe the 1300’s. All I know is, it wasn’t the 1800’s. The present day story revolves around the IRA somewhat and the H/h are childhood friends. It’s a really good story. I believe it won a RITA, but I am not sure what year. Anyway, good luck in your search.

    by Jill D. on February 29th, 2008 at 10:13 am
    
    

11. Well, if you’re interested in feiseanna, and the mega-craziness that goes along with them, you’re in luck, because feis season is getting underway, probably in a location near you. If you’re interested in checking one out, let me know your general location and I can give you a list of where and when.

    Based on what I see of the online Romance community, it seems as though many Romance readers read widely outside the genre, so I’m not sure that an inability to handle grit is the problem. I suspect that the issue is that when people are reading Romance their expectations about the ending are quite a bit different than when they are reading general fiction. I seldom read Irish-set historicals because while the H/H are kissing in the drawing room at the end of the book I don’t want to be worrying about their religious affiliation, or imagining a party of redcoats outside the gates getting ready to torch the estate, or haul the hero away to prison because he was seen talking to a suspected rebel. It’s because I don’t care much for wallpaper historicals that I avoid times and places where the HEA is unlikely to last for longer than 5 minutes. In the last 15 years I have been present when fights broke out (stoked by copious amounts of Guinness!) between Irish Americans who disagreed over the current political situation in Ireland and Northern Ireland, so I have a really hard time suspending disbelief in a historical setting.

    by Aoife on February 29th, 2008 at 10:22 am
    
    

12. Jill~ Somehow the title rings a distant bell, but I don’t remember reading a book by that name. I’ll add your suggestion to my list and go book hunting at my local UBS and library sale. Which is soon- YAY!

    Aoife~ I’m in northern Virginia in the metropolitan Washington DC suburbs. I’d be fun to attend one I think. I hope there’s one close by. My email is on the bottom of my blog or just post here again, if you would, please! thank you~

    As to romance readers being widely read, you’re likely correct about the HEA coloring their feelings. When I read a historical romance by the end I want the couple to have begun a relationship based on shared emotion. I rarely wonder about how history would intrude on them after the book ends. When I read historical fiction, though, I do wonder about how they would cope with upcoming events. It’s in the way each of us approaches books and reading I think. Discussions like this always fascinate me!

    by Amanda on February 29th, 2008 at 11:49 am
    
    

13. Hmm, I don’t think I’ve read one Romance set in Ireland. I mean, I understand the historical/political issues in setting a Romance there, but if the prison outposts that eventually became Australia can serve as an appropriate backdrop for historical Romance, why not Ireland? And I can think of some interesting contemps that could be set there, too.

    by Robin on February 29th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
    
    

14. Amanda, since the feis info is OT, I’ll send you an e-mail.

    Great topic, btw!

    by Aoife on February 29th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
    
    

15. They do exist, Robin - you get women’s fic or chick lit that is essentially a romantic story - but perhaps the genre just has developed a bit differently here.
    And I do avoid them - for lots of reasons. Partly because, when I read them as a teenager, they all seemed to be ‘Protestant loves Catholic across the barricades, hounded by sectarian mobs, leave for America/Australia/some less benighted country where they can be happy.’ Partly because I live here, and it’s more of a fantasy to read about people who live somewhere else. And partly because if they’re written by people who don’t live here, you notice mistakes.
    For instance, Carole Bellacera’s ‘Spotlight’ which got a great review at AAR, proved a frustrating read. I went to the same university the hero did, at the same time, so the little stuff niggled. We don’t have ‘dorms’ and if we did, why would someone from the city pay to live there, rather than take a bus home? The accents were off - they sounded Southern to my ear, where they were meant to be Northern. None of that stuff would bother a non-native reader, but it’s hard to read past it if you live here. (Also the plot is based on the untrue premise that you couldn’t get divorced in N.Ireland.)

    by Marianne McA on February 29th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
    
    

16. Emma Donoghue’s Landing is an epistolary romance between two women, set in Canada and Ireland. I don’t think it’s faithful to either country so much as it’s about two very specific fictional communities, but some of you might recognize something of Ireland in it that I didn’t. My review is here.

    by RfP on March 1st, 2008 at 1:42 am
    
    

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