12 Audiobooks by Irish and Irish-ish Authors
By Penguin Random House Audio
This month, we’re paying homage to a host of Irish authors—and authors with strong ties to the Emerald Isle—who contribute to culture in a big way. From literary thrillers to powerful non-fiction to personal family histories, there’s plenty of luck to be found for us all in these audiobooks, no pot of gold required.
Surrender by Bono
Surrender—the 2024 Audie Award winner for Audiobook of the Year—is an intimate, immersive listening experience, telling stories from Bono’s early days in Dublin, to joining a band and playing sold out stadiums around the world with U2, plus his more than 20 years of activism. Surrender also features exclusive audio of reimagined versions of U2 songs.
The Hunter by Tana French
Cal Hooper thought a bucolic Irish village would be the perfect escape after twenty-five years in the Chicago police. But the longer he stays, the more he realizes even small towns harbor dangerous secrets.
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Searcher and “one of the greatest crime novelists writing today” (Vox), listen to this spellbinding new novel set in the Irish countryside.
The End of the World Is a Cul de Sac by Louise Kennedy
In these visceral, stunningly crafted stories by the author of the much-acclaimed Trespasses, women’s lives are etched by poverty—material, emotional, sexual—but also splashed by beauty, sometimes even joy, as they search for the good in the cards they’ve been dealt.
Lazy City by Rachel Connolly
A “truly extraordinary” (Bassey Ikpi) debut novel of modern Belfast that sings a tender hymn to messy love, quiet grief, and the hangovers in between.
Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe
Patrick Radden Keefe’s mesmerizing account of the bitter conflict in Northern Ireland and its aftermath uses the McConville abduction case as a starting point for the tale of a society wracked by a violent guerrilla war, a war whose consequences have never been reckoned with.
“[Matthew] Blaney’s sober voice is measured and careful, highlighting the subject matter even as he delivers a powerful performance.”—AudioFile
Normal People by Sally Rooney
Listen to the book behind the Emmy-nominated Hulu series. Connell and Marianne grew up in the same small town, but the similarities end there. Connell is popular and Marianne is a loner. But when the two strike up a conversation something life changing begins. Normal People takes us from that first conversation to the years beyond, in the company of two people who try to stay apart but find that they can’t.
The Making of Her by Bernadette Jiwa
Dublin, 1966. When Joan Quinn, a factory girl from the Cranmore Estate, marries Martin Egan, it looks like her dreams have come true. But Joan lives in the shadow of a secret—the couple’s decision to give up their first daughter for adoption. Then one day in 1996, a letter arrives. Emma needs her birth parents’ help; it’s a matter of life and death. And the fragile facade of Joan’s life finally begins to crack.
Dirty Laundry by Disha Bose
Ciara Dunphy has it all—a loving husband, well-behaved children, and a beautiful home in a small Irish village. A picture-perfect life is easy money on Instagram. Then Ciara is found murdered in her own pristine home. Everyone seems to have something to gain from Ciara’s death, so if they don’t want the blame, it may be the perfect time to air their enemies’ dirty laundry.
Orchid and the Wasp by Caoilinn Hughes
Read by the author. In this dazzling debut audiobook, award-winning Irish writer Caoilinn Hughes introduces a heroine of mythic proportions in the form of one Gael Foess. A tough, thoughtful, and savvy opportunist, Gael is determined to live life on her own terms amidst economic and familial collapse.
Grace After Henry by Eithne Shortall
When the love of her life, Henry, is killed in a freak biking accident, Grace feels like she’s lost her own shadow. In his absence, she must put her world back together: she moves into the Dublin dream house they bought together, she returns to work as a chef, she watches TV with her nosy elderly neighbor. But, through it all, she’s ever aware of the growing Henry-shaped hole in her life. Until his long-lost twin brother knocks on her door.
Maeve in America by Maeve Higgins
Read by the author. Maeve Higgins was a bestselling author and comedian in her native Ireland when, at the grand old age of thirty-one, she left the only home she’d ever known in search of something more and found herself in New York City. Together, the essays in Maeve in America create a smart, funny, and revealing portrait of a woman who aims for the stars but sometimes hits the ceiling and the inimitable city that helped make her who she is.
The Alternatives by Caoilinn Hughes
Read by the author and an all-Irish cast, The Alternatives is the story of four brilliant Irish sisters, orphaned in childhood, who scramble to reconnect when the oldest disappears into the Irish countryside.
