We believe that works of fiction can provide a unique insight into the unprecedented anthropogenic changes and the resulting challenges that we all, as humans, face in the next decades. They are a powerful tool in increasing awareness and prompting much needed societal changes, because fiction has the power to touch our emotions and appeal to our hearts as well as to our brains.
Writers have been trying to understand war and violence for as long as literature exists. Turning war horrors into a narrative is an attempt to make sense of often senseless violence. Rendering of human experience of war through characters that readers come to care about is an attempt, perhaps dellusionary, to exercise influence on human behaviour. If we learn and remember, would we make the same mistakes?
Novels by Irish writers about Ireland, the land of storytellers, about its people, its history, and its present.
It is a journey that we all make: from childhood to adolescence to adulthood and, for some of us, from naïve to wise, and from immature to mature. Stories of “formation”, from the German “Bildungsroman”, novels of growth and development (“Entwicklungsroman”), coming-of-age novels are also stories of loss—starting with the loss of innocence, painful realizations, and (self)-discovery.
Contemporary or historical, written by men or by women, these novels have in common strong, original, appealing, complex and sometimes controversial female characters.
While the novels in this selection are very different, they meet the common standards for literary art, appeal, longevity, and influence, and deserve lasting recognition. They have the universal appeal of a classic; they are informed by the history of ideas and literature, and will no doubt stand the test of time and inspire writers who will come afterwards.
Writers like Edgar Alan Poe, Dashiell Hammett, or Georges Simenon gave to the crime genre its lettres de noblesse. Literary Noir enriched American and European Modernism, brought into light issues of racial, sexual, and economic inequality, reflected the impact of Freudian psychoanalysis on literary form. Beyond purely escapist entertainment, the best works of crime fiction are among the finest examples of the art and craft of writing, addressing genuine social and aesthetic problems.
Good books have the capacity to transport us in space and time. Our authors make you travel from the 18th century Spain to the 21st century Japan via the 1970s Indonesia. But for this category, we selected the books that would make you want to be there or maybe even long to be there…
Recent releases and novels coming out in 2022
Betimes Books 