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The Queen of Dirt Island

Donal Ryan

Why we're reading this: Ireland
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Nov 07, 2023 Andrea rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2023, around-the-world-2023, fiction-foreign-locale

The Queen of Dirt Island was my first experience of reading Donal Ryan, and it was like a warm, fierce, loving bearhug that took my breath away. I can't wait to explore more of his work.

Saoirse is only days old when she loses her father, so growing up in a house of women is all she's ever known. There's Mother (Eileen), estranged from her own family and widowed far too young, Nana (Mary) the matriarch who initially lives on the family farm up behind the village, and eventually along comes little ...more

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Jun 23, 2025 Beth rated it really liked it

Shelves: audio-book, contempoary-fiction, irish-literature, ireland

"Let the books remember the local battles. Rewrite the plot. Let the Harvest wither. This is your life. She is your great event. Keep her in the sun." ...more

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Oct 25, 2022 Stef Smulders rated it liked it · review of another edition

3.5 Good story with some powerful scenes. I am not so sure about the author's style. It is often too sweet, almost sentimental and there is a lot of 'she felt the emotion rise through her veins' etc. The end is a feel good cliché.

The fragmented structure of one or two pages works fine at the start, when the girl is still young and it mimicks her mind but later on all the breaks disturb the story line. The author does gradually change the way the girl expresses herself in a smart way. ...more

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