Sarah Gilmartin

This grim and clever take on George Orwell for our modern times offers us a sliver of hope

Smith has gone big with her first historical novel, a 500-page saga centred on a real-life cause célèbre of Victorian England

The author packs in the learning and knowledge without the reader ever becoming bored

Set over a year in contemporary Belfast, there is a propulsive quality to the writing

The diverse forms these stories take feel earned, surprising, not tokenistic. There’s method in the madness

The Co Kerry author’s debut novel is a quietly moving story of stalled lives and lost chances

Patchett gives us the feeling of being on the inside track, the behind-the-scenes thrill of hearing the real story

This fine collection offers slivers of enlightenment, confusion, loss, disenchantment and an occasional twist that feels earned

Poignant and thought-provoking novel from the acclaimed American author

This debut novel follows an enemies-to-lovers storyline with a very modern and joyful flavour

An ambitious, expansive novel where the darkness is never too far away

There is a universality and perspicacity to Ge’s writing, an understanding of what matters

Author tackles the darkest of subjects with irreverent humour in this story of a sex therapist’s transcriptionist and her love affair with a gynaecologist

It has been nine years since McKeon’s debut novel but it has been worth the wait for this disturbing, intensely moving exploration of the Troubles and their legacy

A virtuosic set-piece late on veers so far into nightmare territory, it feels as if we’re reading a thriller