SHORTLISTED FOR THE BORD GAIS ENERGY IRISH BOOK AWARDS 2017
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2017 DESMOND ELLIOTT PRIZE
Ithaca, the ferociously funny and unbelievably poignant debut novel from Alan McMonagle, combines a fiercely emotional story with crackling prose.
This was the summer after all the money disappeared. One minute it was here. The next it had vanished. All of it. Without trace . . . Now that all the money had vanished everyone had their eyes and ears ready for all manner of doom.
Summer 2009, and eleven-year-old Jason Lowry is preoccupied with thoughts of the Da he has never known. In the meantime, his vodka-swilling, swings-from-the-hip Ma is busy entertaining her latest boyfriend and indulging her fondness for joyriding.
Jason escapes to the Swamp: a mysteriously rising pool of fetid water on the outskirts of the town. There, he meets the girl, a being as lost as himself, and with even less regard for reality. Together, they conjure exotic adventures - from ancient Egypt to the search for Ithaca, home of Odysseus. But what begin as innocent flights of fancy soon become forays into hazardous territory; the girl is a dangerous (and very committed) partner in crime.



![Manchan, Magan IRISH INTEREST Magan Manchan: Listen to the Land Speak [2022] hardback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/manchan-magan-magan-manchan-listen-to-the-land-speak-2022-hardback-57197364117843_{width}x.jpg?v=1743077146)
![Lynch, Paul IRISH FICTION Paul Lynch: Prophet Song [2023] paperback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/lynch-paul-paul-lynch-prophet-song-2023-paperback-57686922002771_{width}x.jpg?v=1732016939)
![Mulqueen Ciaran BARGAIN IRISH POLITICS Ciarán Mulqueen: How to Buy a Home in Ireland: A Guide to Navigating the Irish Property Market [2023] paperback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/mulqueen-ciaran-ciaran-mulqueen-how-to-buy-a-home-in-ireland-a-guide-to-navigating-the-irish-property-market-2023-paperback-57818454982995_{width}x.jpg?v=1736853573)
![Keegan, Claire IRISH FICTION Claire Keegan: Small Things Like These: Shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2022 [2022] paperback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/keegan-claire-claire-keegan-small-things-like-these-shortlisted-for-the-booker-prize-2022-2022-paperback-59373419102547_{width}x.jpg?v=1758902529)
![Fallon, Donal & Flanagan, Frank BARGAIN DUBLIN INTEREST James Flanagan: The Lamplighters of the Phoenix Park [2023] hardback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/fallon-donal-flanagan-frank-james-flanagan-the-lamplighters-of-the-phoenix-park-2023-hardback-58346832265555_{width}x.jpg?v=1727218215)