Lady Gregory’s Shorter Writings, Volume 1, 1882-1900, edited and introduced by James Pethica (Colin Smythe, £60)
A series of articles that Lady Augusta Gregory of Coole Park, Co Galway, wrote for Irish publications before she established herself as a folklorist and playwright are reproduced in full in this valuable compilation of her previously uncollected early writings. Among its nearly 50 articles are several on the blind poet Anthony Raftery (Raifteairaí an File) and on the establishment of Gaelic League branches in Co Galway, published in An Claidheamh Soluis, as well as pieces on the lace-making classes introduced by the Sisters of Mercy for local girls in Gort, Co Galway, “to save them from the necessity of going to America”, and on tree planting and husbandry. Two short stories in the collection — her first creative writings — are about marital infidelity and they may have drawn on her own guilt and remorse over a clandestine affair she had early in her marriage. A lengthy 1900 article titled The Felons of Our Land, aimed at English readers of the Cornhill Magazine, was Lady Gregory’s “open declaration of changed loyalties, extolling as it does the Irish ‘patriots’ who had taken up arms against British rule”, writes James Pethica, who edited and introduced this collection and who is preparing an authorised biography of Lady Gregory for Oxford University Press. — Ray Burke
Wounded Tigris: A River Journey through the Cradle of Civilization by Leon Mc Carron (Corsair, £20)
The River Tigris is thirsty. Where once occupants of the ancient Mesopotamia and modern Iraq region feared flooding, now drought is their major concern. Northern Irish writer and adventurer Leon McCarron charts his journey along the course of the river, accompanied by his team that includes his partner Emily Garthwaite, whose remarkable photography features in the book. Considered the “lifeblood” of the region, the river Tigris also bears host to countless deaths; bodies murdered by militia and feuding families dumped in its waterways home to drownings and an aetiology to cancer and illness due to the toxicity of the water. McCarron recounts the environmental and geo-political threats facing the river and people who occupy its neighbouring lands. An insightful and worrying read, softened by the hospitality and courage of the people we meet along the journey. — Brigid O’Dea
On Being Unreasonable: Breaking the Rules and Making Things Better by Kirsty Sedgman (Faber, £16.99)
This is principally a book about behaviour, being reasonable and, the author argues, the merits of being unreasonable. And herein lies the problem (which she fully explores) of what is reasonable. Whether it’s Confucius in ancient China, or Aristotle in ancient Greece, or the Age of Enlightenment in 18th-century Europe much ink has been spilled debating which beliefs and behaviours are within reason. But first, we have to understand the rules of engagement — where did the dominant norms come from in the first place? To bolster her case Sedgman offers us George Bernard Shaw’s famous quotation: The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. And if everyone has a different opinion about what it means to act reasonably, then how common can common sense really be? Sedgman places huge importance on the language of lines — the lines that help us separate right from wrong, good from bad, appropriate from inappropriate and especially how and where we draw the lines. If all this sounds deadly serious her light touch and good humour help make for a fascinating read. — Owen Dawson
