Good News!

I'm delighted to annnounce that Penguin Ireland have bought my novel The Herbalist, and it will be published in 2013!

From the press release:

"The Herbalist is a vivid and atmospheric story set in a midlands town over a summer in late 1930s. An Indian man appears in the market square, sets up a stall and declares himself a herbalist. The people of the town flock to the exotic visitor, who seems to have a cure for everything that ails them. But the visitor also helps get rid of some of the town’s more sordid secrets and as the summer progresses life becomes complicated and dangerous for the herbalist and his devotees. A rich multi-layered story of life in 1930s Ireland told through the eyes of four women, each of whose lives is changed irrevocably by the herbalist."

Patricia Deevy, Editorial Director, Penguin Ireland said, ‘I’m absolutely thrilled to have bought Niamh’s dazzling novel. Niamh vividly conjures both the warmth and the darkness of life in a provincial Irish town during those years before the Emergency. In particular, she handles the now familiar shadow side of Irish life – the rigid social stratification, the fear of sex, the double standards – in a wholly fresh and confident way. Her characters are fascinating women and she has written a thought-provoking, moving and viscerally engaging novel that marks her out as a remarkable and original new talent.’

... and I'll be reading from The Herbalist at the Novel Fair 2013 Launch on June 27th at the Irish Writer's Centre !


From Irish Publishing News:
Penguin Ireland Signs Hennessy XO Winner

From Carry On Writing @ Writing.ie
Journalist & Author Hazel Gaynors Blog

From Book2Book:
 Penguin Ireland Is Delighted To Announce The Acquisition Of The Herbalist By Hennessy Award Winning Author Niamh Boyce