The Irish novel has had a distinguished history. It spans such diverse authorsas James Joyce George Moore Maria Edgeworth Bram Stoker Flann OBrienSamuel Beckett... » 

The Irish novel has had a distinguished history. It spans such diverse authorsas James Joyce George Moore Maria Edgeworth Bram Stoker Flann OBrienSamuel Beckett Lady Morgan John Banville and others. Yet it has until nowreceived less critical attention than Irish poetry and drama. This volumecovers three hundred years of Irish achievement in fiction with essays on keygenres themes and authors. It provides critiques of individual worksaccounts of important novelists and histories of subgenres and alliednarrative forms establishing significant social and political contexts fordozens of novels. The varied perspectives and emphases by more than a dozencritics and literary historians ensure that the Irish novel receives duetribute for its colour variety and linguistic verve. Each chapter featuresrecommended further reading. This is the perfect overview for students of theIrish novel from the romances of the seventeenth century to the present day. «