Irish Girls Are Back in Town

by Various, Cecelia Ahern (Contributor), Patricia Scanlan (Contributor)

You thought you'd heard the whole story?
They painted the town green in the acclaimed international bestseller Irish Girls About Town. Now
Irish Girls Are Back In Town
...and their unique charm resonates throughout this high-spirited gathering of first-rate short fiction! So cozy up with some of today's best Irish women writers -- many favorites from the first Irish Girls collection and some lively newcomers -- as they spin nineteen all-new tales ranging from poignant and heartwarming to provocative and outright hilarious.
Against the madcap setting of a bingo hall, Cecelia Ahern conjures a woman's memories of her domineering mother in "The Calling"...Patricia Scanlan unwraps the truth behind "Façades" when two friends reconnect at the holidays. Are they as happy and successful as they appear?...A resolute widow pieces together a shocking betrayal -- and vows to outdo her competition -- in Gemma O'Connor's deliciously twisted "Dinner with Annie"...Sarah Webb reveals "How Emily Got Promoted" -- and how a little bit of luck can make a working girl's day.
Plus other wonderful entries from
Una Brankin · Marita Conlon-McKenna · Martina Devlin Clare Dowling · Catherine Foley · Áine Greaney · Suzanne Higgins · Rosaleen Linehan · Joan O'Neill · Julie Parsons · Deirdre Purcell · Morag Prunty · Tina Reilly · Mary Ryan · Annie Sparrow

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Short Stories, Irish Literature, Ireland, Anthologies, Romance

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 19, 2005

About the author

Various is the correct author for any book with multiple unknown authors, and is acceptable for books with multiple known authors, especially if not all are known or the list is very long (over 50).

If an editor is known, however, Various is not necessary. List the name of the editor as the primary author (with role "editor"). Contributing authors' names follow it.

Note: WorldCat is an excellent resource for finding author information and contents of anthologies.

Reviews

[Ayda Razak · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this book just because it has Cecelia Ahern's name on the cover as one of the writer.

There are 19 short stories written by 19 authors in this book. Some are good, some are just okay kind of stories and some stories are so bad that I just don't see the point of them at all.

[Em · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cecelia Ahern is one of my favourite writers of chick lit. It's wonderful to have the oppertunity to read any of the books she has written. Irish girls are back in town is a wonderful little collection of short stories which I loved but i'm still much more a fan of her full novels.

I think its amazing that all of her greatest novels are set in Ireland, her birth place, she writes the descriptions so accurately that you can almost sense that you are there and her magical books are the greatest! She really pulls you into the world of all her main characters which makes them an interesting read!

I have always thought of her as the greatest writer of chick lit, that I personally believe. Her writing has never failed to disappoint me which is why I have always purchased her new books as soon as they hit the bookshelf of my favourite bookstore.

I do prefer her much longer novels but this is a wonderful little collection of short stories. That i'm sure, like me, you will personally love!

HAPPY READING!
Emma
x x x

[Beverly Freese · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of these short stories were really great, though unfortunately most of them seemed to be based on death. There were two or three stories that I did like enough to look further into the authors, but for the most part I did not get into the stories at all.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just good ol' storytelling....perfect for binge-reading during Polar Votex 2019.

[Melissa (Vacation Mode) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not really a short story person. Some are good, others are just so-so or terrible. Too many stories with no real unifying theme other than they are written by Irish authors.
This collection of short stories is interesting, entertaining, and insightful—at times. Nineteen tales range from clever to downright boring. The premise behind Irish Girls are Back in Town seems only to be that the authors are Irish chick lit authors. The stories themselves don’t seem to have any cohesive theme, although putting in a “twist” appears to be de rigeur. Since I’m not generally a short story fan, I may be a bit biased, but this collection could have been improved by cutting down the number of stories and lengthening some of them.

Some standouts include “At Least There’ll Be Diamonds” by Martina Devlin, in which Crystal flies to Amsterdam to marry Terry—who isn’t exactly as we might picture in our heads. “Part-Time Lover” by Tina Reilly is one of my favorites, with Abby celebrating Valentine’s Day in an unusual way. The story is heart-tugging yet also hopeful. It’s written concisely but feels like a completed tale.

“Facades” by Patricia Scanlan has potential but ultimately fails to deliver a good punch at the end. It’s only about a third of the way into the book, and by that time I was expecting a really good twist for each story since it seemed to be the rule rather than the exception. It is a decent story, though. My overall favorite story reflects the title of the book, “Irish Girls Are Back in Town” by Suzanne Higgins. It combines all of the ideal elements of an excellent chick lit story with humor, romance, and a sense of family.

“Flesh and Blood” by Marita Conlon-McKenna is another well-written tale. It follows Christine, who is searching for the daughter she gave up for adoption. The book culminates with “The End (of Their Affair)" by Aine Greaney, following two people who have been carrying on an affair for years and who are each moving toward ending it. It’s a fitting cap on this collection, which is uneven but has its bright points.

[Stephy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not many of these stories interested me.
The were short and boring.
Some didn't even make sense.
And some just seemed pointless.
The ones that were good were easily to figure out what was going to happen.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is ok-ok. I learnt that I am not fond of short stories. Some stories are good, some stories are boring. On positive side, now I know which authors I will keep my eyes open for. :)

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

fun easy read for in-between books or on the train

[L E · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find myself often enjoying Irish authors, so this was a great collection of sample stories to see which authors I would like to read moving forward. I quite enjoyed nine of the stories, DNF 3 of them.

[Judy Spare · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first stories of the book are best

[jade · Rating 3 out of 5]

alcuni racconti molto carini altri un po' meno

[Codi Lessner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting set of stories. Some i really liked others where just so so.

[Smriti Bolarya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute, saucy short stories. Enjoyed quite a few of them

[Christie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have three reasons for picking up this book. First of all, I bought this book 3 years ago when I was going through a phase of buying any book with Cecelia Ahern's name on the cover (LOVED her story in this book) and it has since been gathering dust on my bookshelf. Number two, I needed a Short Story Collection for on of my myriad reading challenges I'm participating in and it seemed a good excuse to dust this one off. Thirdly, what better way to kick off the month of March, notorious for being the month of shamrocks, leprechauns, and "Kiss Me, I'm Irish" T-shirts on people without an ounce of Irish heritage in them, than to read a book of stories written by some of the most well-known female Irish authors?

I enjoyed this book as much as I can enjoy any short story collection (not being a big fan of short stories in general, I rather like big, fat, juicy novels that could be better used as doorstops). The stories were mostly good. There were a few that left me going "huh? what?" but for the most part I enjoyed the stories. Some were hilarious, some were sad, and some were downright disturbing. I have to ask, "What is it with the Irish and death?" There were maybe 6 stories out of the 19 that did not have some sort of death theme. I do have a list of a few authors I would like to try the novels of from reading this book. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys contemporary Irish fiction (especially any fans of the authors featured in this volume).

Genre Bingo: Short Story Collection
Paranormal Scavenger Hunt: Ghost

[Jenny (Reading Envy) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up at Half Price Books for $1. Honestly, most of them weren’t very good, the endings were either predictable or so contrived that they felt forced. I did like “Spinning Sugar” by Morag Prunty and “Dinner with Annie” by Gemma O’Connor. A lot of the stories, all written in 2004, take place in a post 90s Ireland where there is a huge recession, where people have been let go of good paying jobs and are either destitute or working blue collar jobs. Everyone is unhappy or at least mourning their riches. I hadn’t heard about a severe economic crisis in Ireland, but it seemed a given in the stories.

[Crystal Scruggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Carrot for Breakfast by Rosaleen Linehan: who cannot relate to this one?
Secret Letter Writers by Catherine Foley: a tad confusing on the end but, a good read none the less.
Dinner with Annie by Gemma O'Connor: nice twist to the devoted husband & trophy wife.
The End (of Their Affair) by Aine Greany: two people thinking the same thing. Interesting.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good. A lot seemed to have unfinished endings. Not very satisfactory. And quite raunchy considering it was a fundraiser for children. But maybe I'm just too American. ;)
I really just read it for Cecelia Ahern. Hers was good too but I prefer her full length stories and all the magic woven in.

[Elizabeth Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

My only real complaint is that the cover of this collection, and the title, doesn't quite match the tone of the stories within. The stories themselves are poignant, sometimes darkly funny, and cover quite a range of Irish womanhood, with most of the characters in their late twenties to their sixties. Not an instant favorite, but a welcome edition to my shelves 'to keep' as it were.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a wonderful group of short stories by Irish women writers for a children's charity group.
The stories covered very intimate women's topics and I loved them all.
Why is it that Irish women write so well.
There is one from Maeve Binchy in this book, so it you like Maeve Binch, you will like this book.
Great bedtime reading.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these short stories were really great, though unfortunately most of them seemed to be based on death. There were two or three stories that I did like enough to look further into the authors, but for the most part I did not get into the stories at all.

[KylieAtkinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some really great stories here and some so-so stories. I love the short stories format though. You can just read one a night and feel happy. Irish storytellers are the best though. (I used this as number 12 on the Goodreads Book Bingo challenge - A book of short stories)

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the original volume more interesting.

[Amber · Rating 1 out of 5]

Most of them weren’t very good, the endings were predictable. There were about 3 of them that I really liked

[Love2Read · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun light read. A collection of short stories, most of them are pretty good.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hate the cover, but as the saying goes... some really great writing inside.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent collection

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection of short stories!

[Alisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just good old fashioned fun! Gotta love short stories!

[Carrie Kitzmiller · Rating 2 out of 5]

http://booksandmovies.today.com/2008/...

[Abby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Essay collections are always so hit and miss. This one had many more misses than I usually have. OK but not super.