First published 2007
A group of teenage girls arrives in Donegal for an intensive month of Irish language immersion. They stay with local families in the Gaeltacht, attending classes and absorbing the culture around them. The wild landscape of rivers, hills, and coastline stirs something restless within them. As they navigate their lessons and daily life with their host families, the girls find themselves changing in unexpected ways. The untamed environment mirrors their own awakening desires and uncertainties. Their month in Donegal becomes more than language learning as they confront questions about identity, sexuality, and what it means to be Irish. The experience forces each girl to examine her place in the complex web of social class, politics, and cultural belonging that defines modern Ireland.
Genres: fiction, coming-of-age, contemporary, adolescence
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Donegal, Gaeltacht
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
296 pages · Paperback · Blackstaff Pr