Product Description

When it comes to spinning a good yarn--creating stories to tug at your heartstrings or make you cry with laughter--the Irish are the best in the business.

Together for the first time, some of Ireland's best-loved writers, as well as up-and-coming new stars, have honed their remarkable talents in aid of a very good cause. The result is Irish Girls About Town, a diverse and memorable collection guaranteed to divert and delight.

Join Cathy Kelly for a madcap road trip across the States. In Maeve Binchey's Carissima, an old friend returns to Ireland from Sicily--with unexpected consequences. An independent woman answers a Lonely Hearts' ad--with surprising results. And discover an unusual method of getting rid of an unwanted wedding ring.

Whether they're raunchy or romantic, provocative or poignant, all the stories in this fabulous new collection are infused with a peculiarly irresistible brand of Irish charm.

So settle down to enjoy stories from some wonderful Irish writers, including Maeve Binchy, Marian Keyes, Cathy Kelly, Colette Caddle, Morag Prunty, Julie Parsons, Joan O'Neill, Gemma O'Connor, Catherine Dunne and Martina Devlin.

£1 from every copy sold will be divided between Barnardo's, the UK's largest children's charity, and the Society of St Vincent de Paul, which works to alleviate the effects of poverty.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #271315 in Books
• Published on: 2003-02
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Customer Reviews

A great find!
I recently bought 4 books with short stories by Irish and Scottish women -- and the first two were a disappointment. Then I started reading the third one, IRISH GIRLS ABOUT TOWN, and what a difference! Now, this was exactly my cup of tea :)
I especially enjoyed three stories -- The 28th Day by Catherine Barry, The Union Man by Tina Reilly and The Ring Circle by Martina Devlin. (I was disappointed by the fact that Maeve Binchy's story seemed to be an extract from one of her novels...)
"The 28th Day" is a fantastic description of PMT. How clever to think of that subject matter! Yes, really! You have to read it to see what I mean. Barry treats her character with such humour and understanding. An absolutely wonderful short story -- and I am most definitely going to order Barry's novels, now that I have "discovered" her!
The same goes for Reilly. After reading her brilliant story, "The Union Man" (about a woman married to a "mother's boy"), I want to read more of her work. Both these writers have a way of getting a serious point across by using humour and irony. And they write about things so many women have experienced, no matter what country they live in. Perfect!
I loved Devlin's "The Ring Circle" for similar reasons as the first two writers I mentioned. She deals with such an ordinary subject matter (what to do with the wedding band after a divorce) in such a comic way. I'm sure many of us have been in that situation. What DO we do with the ring when the marriage is over?
Oh, these are writers you simply MUST get to know. I discovered them by chance ... and I am sooooooo glad!

A hit & miss affair
As an avid reader I often run out of my own books & turn to my wife's collection. She had recently bought this but had not yet read it so I though I would give it a go (anything written by Maeve Binchy is worth reading).

There are many different stories, with different themes in this collection but I think they can easily be separated in to two sections - very, good stories & very, bad stories.

The good ones are written by the names headlining the book (Maeve Binchy, Marian Keyes, Cathy Kelly etc). These stories (& a couple of others) are very well-written, very funny & thoroughly enjoyable.

The bad stories...well, the less said about them the better. They are poorly written, not at all funny & completely unbelievable. Too many of the writers evidently believed they had a good idea & forced a story out of it.

In summary, I would compare this book to most compilation CD's. You buy the CD for a handful of gem's....& you fast-forward through the fillers.

Well worth the money
Buying this book is money well spent as it's the type of collection you'll want to leave on the bedside locker and dip in and outt as you please. Alll the alll favourites are featured such as Maeve Binchy, Marian Keyes, Sarah Webb and Cathy Kelly but I also enjoyed the stories of the less famous writers such as Annie Sparrow and Marisa Mackle. Highly recommended.