WINTER MUST-READS

With the arrival of the longer nights, now is the perfect time to curl up with a good book. Here we look at some of the latest releases which are sure to make it onto your winter must-read list.

MY HOMEPLACE INHERITANCE

Susan Farrell’s evocative account of what it was like to grow up in rural Armagh and Tyrone, a world rooted in tradition and in the seasons. Beginning with her grandparents, Susan uses food to trace the legacy of her upbringing: Nanny Wylie, ‘quick as a magician’, making bread; her aunts cycling twenty miles to the Irish border to buy butter, dried fruit and sugar for her parents’ wedding cake; food remedies and broths; and the endless supply of home-made apple pies, jam and soda farls.

By the late sixties this way of life is changing - Camp Coffee, salad cream and books like Madhur Jaffrey’s ‘Eastern Vegetarian Cooking’ herald a new way of life and a new kind of cooking. And on the horizon is the shadow of the Troubles.

Warm, authentic and often funny, ‘My Homeplace Inheritance’ is a vivid evocation of place and a celebration of the rich legacy that comes from the cooking and sharing of food.

GILNAHIRK UPDATED

Aidan Campbell’s latest local history book is entitled ‘Gilnahirk Updated’ which will be available on 30th November 2020. The story looks at the development of the area over the last century and much new material has been uncovered and added to ‘Gilnahirk’ which was originally published in 2009 but has been out of print for several years. Some extracts from the book follow brief preview of some of the content of the forthcoming ‘Ravenhill’ book.

My Homeplace Inheritance by Susan Farrell Published by Blackstaff Press Gilnahirk Updated by Aidan Campbell Knightsbridge Wealth Management

GIRLS PLAY TOO

Irish sportswomen have been breaking the mould for a very, very long time. In 1956, Maeve Kyle became our fi rst female Olympian, and in 1978 rally driver Rosemary Smith broke the country’s land-speed record! Through the 1990s and 2000s we had world champions in Sonia O’Sullivan, Derval O’Rourke and Olive Loughnane, and more recently, the fantastic Katie Taylor, Kellie Harrington and Annalise Murphy have been among those who have put Irish sportswomen on the map. This book breaks the mould once more, as a fi rst ever compendium of stories for children about our best contemporary sportswomen. With a fairy-tale touch, RTÉ’s Jacqui Hurley tells the stories of women who have proved that being a girl is not a barrier to sporting success. Each story is one of overcoming big challenges, and the role models celebrated here are sure to inspire the next generation of Irish sportswomen. Featuring twenty-fi ve dazzling athletes, and with delightful pictures by fi ve wonderful female Irish illustrators, Girls Play Too is a celebration of come of our brightest and best sporting stars, and of all that you can achieve if you try your best and never give up on your dreams.