Martina Devlin, an award-winning columnist for the Irish Independent and podcaster for Dublin City of Literature #CityofBooks, has delivered a new novel based on the life of Edith Somerville of ‘Somerville and Ross’ fame – authors of The Irish R.M.
In this work, set during the turbulent period of Irish Independence 1921–22, Somerville finds herself at a crossroads. Her position as a member of the Ascendancy is perilous as she struggles to keep her family home, Drishane House in West Cork, while others are burned out. After years in a successful writing partnership with Violet Martin, Edith continues to write after her partner’s death, comforted in the belief they continue to connect through automatic writing and séances.
Against a backdrop of Civil War politics and lawlessness erupting across the country via IRA flying columns, people across Ireland are forced to consider where their loyalties lie.
In Edith, Devlin limns a vivid historical context in this story of proto-feminist Edith Somerville courageously trying to keep home and heart in one piece.
The story of Somerville and Ross is unique in the history of Irish women writers. Academic Shawn R. Mooney described these best-selling authors as ‘undeniably New Women: single, educated and economically independent writers whose lives and literary collaboration were unique manifestations of late-nineteenth century feminist strivings toward political and sexual equality’. Devlin depicts Edith in the round, suffering from loss, striving for safety, and keeping hold of hope in this captivating narrative set in the early years of a nascent state — a triumph of ventriloquism rooted in a society on the cusp of change.
About the Author :
Martina Devlin is a bestselling author and award-winningjournalist, having published ten books to date. Devlin has won numerous awards for both her writing and journalism, including the Hennessy Literary Award 1996, GALA columnist of the year 2010, National Newspapers of Ireland columnist of the year 2011 and Royal Society of Literature’s V.S. Pritchett short story award 2012. She was also Writer-in-Residence at the Princess Grace Irish Library in Monaco in 2009. She has been shortlisted three times for the Irish Book of the Year awards, and her non-fiction account of the Irish financial collapse, Banksters, co-authored with David Murphy, topped the best-seller list for eight weeks. A former Fleet Street journalist, she writes weekly current affairs columns for the Irish Independent and has been named National Newspapers of Ireland columnist of the year. She frequently chairs literary and current affairs events and is a regular commentator on BBC and RTÉ. She was born in Omagh and lives in Dublin.
Review :
delicious dark tension and gothic sensibility ... she exhibits a rare genius in delivering a layered, palimpsestic text full of themes that speak to the contemporary reader ... The novel feels so truthful: it is as if Devlin embarked on her own automatic-writing session with Edith Somerville and tapped into the candle-flamed reality of those tumultuous times.
Rosemary Jenkinson,
Dublin Review of Books
This is a gorgeous book, beautifully researched and with a fabulous cameo from Flurry Knox. Edith is worth getting to know.
Sinéad Crowley
the extensive research behind Edith is worn lightly. Vivid descriptions capture the sights, sounds and smells of the era ... Devlin’s depiction of Edith is completely convincing; she comes across as witty, intelligent and — despite the spirit writing — smart and sanguine. Rather than sounding like a woman desperate to cling to an old way of life, she is pragmatic; understanding of the need to make the transition from the old order to a new way of life as an inhabitant of the Irish state. She understood her part in the Ascendancy, yet was also able to chart its demise with insight and humanity.
Henrietta McKervey,
Irish Independent
This pitch-perfect read … unfolds a story that is elegantly composed and brightly paced … Another example of history and imagination meeting at that sweet spot, one effortlessly complementing the other. [Hilary] Mantel would agree.
Frank Coughlan, Irish Independent
An immersive, entertaining rollercoaster.
Susan McKeever, Books Ireland
As a journalist, Martina Devlin knows a good story, so when she began to delve into the fascinating life and times of Edith Somerville, she had found someone who she knew would come alive on the page.
Irish Examiner
Devlin's writing is warm and witty. She captures dialogue brilliantly, so the book flies by in a flurry of conversation while her prose descriptions are frequently superb too ... As a character, Edith is well realised with all her contradictions and eccentricities ... Devlin's novel is a tender portrait of a nearly forgotten character who springs into life on the page.
John Walshe, Sunday Business Post
Edith by Martina Devlin is a delicately layered novel. Warm, funny and authentic, its complexity is delivered with a charming and clever lightness of touch. Utterly beguiling.
Dalkey Book Festival
My book of the year for 2022 … thoughtful and beautifully written … Devlin exercises diplomacy at all times, and breathes life into this extraordinary woman.
Tanya Farrelly, The Lonely Crowd
A portrait of a brave woman told with lightness and grace
Colm Tóibín
Irish Independent Best Book of 2022
