Tue., May 21st

books

In a way, Frank Delaney backed into writing fiction; his first piece, a novella, happened almost by accident (see Author's note to My Dark Rosaleen). Once the furrow had been opened fiction followed at, initially, the rate of a novel almost every year. They took many forms: the historical novel, the 'moral' novel, the thriller, a novel told in two first-person voices, a cross-over/sequel – written in the style of a different century – and, with Ireland, a narration which depends in great part upon the spoken word.

The Last Storyteller

"Every legend and all mythologies exist to teach us how to run our days. In kind fashion. A loving way. But there's no story, no matter how ancient, as important as one's own. So if we're to live good lives, we have to tell ourselves our own story. In a good way." So says James Clare, Ben MacCarthy's beloved mentor, and it is this fateful advice that will guide Ben through the tumultuous events of Ireland in 1956.

The Matchmaker of Kenmare

"And there's a legend - she had only vague details - that all couples who are meant to marry are connected by an invisible silver cord which is wrapped around their ankles at birth, and in time the matchmaking gods pull those cords tighter and tighter and draw the couple slowly toward one another until they meet." So says Miss Kate Begley, Matchmaker of Kenmare, the enigmatic woman Ben MacCarthy meets in the summer of 1943. Read More

Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show

"She sprang from the womb and waved to the crowd. Then she smiled and took a bow." And so we first meet Venetia Kelly, the beguiling actress at the center of this new, spellbinding, and epic novel by Frank Delaney, the bestselling author of Ireland and Shannon. Read More

Shannon, a Novel

In the summer of 1922, Robert Shannon, a young American hero of the Great War, lands in Ireland. A Marine chaplain, he was present at the frightful Battle of Belleau Wood, and he still suffers from shell shock. His mentor hopes that a journey Robert had always wanted to make–to find his family roots–will restore his equilibrium and his vocation. Read More

Tipperary, A Novel

"My wooing began in passion, was defined by violence and circumscribed by land; all these elements molded my soul." So writes Charles O'Brien, the unforgettable hero of bestselling author Frank Delaney's extraordinary new novel - a sweeping epic of obsession, profound devotion, and compelling history involving a turbulent era that would shape modern Ireland. Read More

Simple Courage

In late December 1951, laden with passengers and nearly forty metric tons of cargo, the freighter S.S. Flying Enterprise steamed westward from Europe toward America. A few days into the voyage, she hit the eye of a ferocious storm. Force 12 winds tossed men about like playthings and turned drops of freezing Atlantic foam into icy missiles. Read More

Ireland, A Novel

Beneath all the histories of Ireland, from the present day, through her long troubled relationship with England and back to the earliest times, there has always been another, less obvious reporter speaking - the oral tradition, Ireland's vernacular narrative, telling the country's tale to her people in stories handed down since God was a boy. Read More

At Ruby's

Jim Hawkins and the Curse of Treasure Island

Pearl

The Amethysts

Desire and Pursuit

A Stranger in their Midst

Telling the Pictures

A Walk to the Western Isles: After Boswell and Johnson

The Sins of the Mothers

Legends of the Celts

My Dark Rosaleen

A Walk in the Dark Ages

The Celts

Betjeman Country

James Joyce's Odyssey

Silver Apples, Golden Apples; Best Loved Irish Verse

The Folio Society/Hutchinson Book of Essays

The Folio Book of Irish Short Stories

The Poems of Christy Brown

The Landleaguers by Anthony Trollope

Short Stories from the Strand

The Novels of James Kennaway

The Go-Between by L.P. Hartley

Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson

Caitriona by Robert Louis Stevenson

Steven Wise wins Frank's "Story of Your Life" Twitter challenge

The newspaper The Columbia Missourian" covered the "Story of Your Life" twitter challenge, featuring Steven Wise, winner of the twallenge, as Frank calls it. Wise shares some interesting insights on taking part in the challenge, saying that even though it appeared impossible to him to sum up a life of experiences in a couple sentences or even a book, "it was an exercise and it grabbed me, and I wanted to give it a go." Read more and see the winning tweet here..

The Last Storyteller

Starred Review from Publisher's Weekly
"The riveting final installment of Delaney's Ben McCarthy trilogy. Long-time fans will relish its conclusion, while new readers will quickly warm to Delaney's vividly described Ireland of the 1950s, its fully-realized inhabitants, and the dynamic political and personal relationships that make for a remarkable story. (Feb.)"

Frank Delaney Storytellers

One of Frank Delaney's most endearing new projects, a series of short stories produced as e-books called, "Storytellers," began as a means of introducing his novel "The Last Storyteller," in which the character of an itinerant Irish Seanchai is central to the plot.

Occupy Ulysses

Delaney's Work

Locate an Indie Bound store near you to buy in person.

Visit Frank Delaney's local bookstore, The Hickory Stick Bookshop, and ask them about autographed copies.