Hi,

Mary Costello’s novel Academy Street has won the Irish Book Awards Book of the Year 2014 and was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award 2014. I’d like to thank Canongate for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

In the 1960s, Tess, a young Irish woman, emigrates to New York to find her destiny. Her mother passed away when Tess was a small girl and so she grew up on the dreary family farm among her siblings and her gruff father. Like most people, Tess is looking for love, but for an introvert person finding friends can be a challenge. As she tries to build a home in the United States, it isn’t always easy to stay close to those she loves. Although this country enables Tess to live a life that would be impossible in Ireland, she is just as isolated as before.

Academy Street is a slow-moving tale with a main character who is great to identify with. Mary Costello paints a realistic picture of a woman’s life very similar to the lives of many lonely people out there. The novel’s only downside is its ending. Even though it is surprising, I don’t think it very original. All in all, however, Academy Street is a melancholic novel that will make you value your family and think about those less fortunate than yourself.

(3.5 magic beans)

¹ http://www.canongate.tv/academy-street-hardback.html