Louise Kennedy Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Story Collections

Louise Kennedy is a published Irish author of fiction.

As a child, Louise grew up close to Belfast. She has had her short stories published in a variety of places, including the journals Banshee, The Tangerine, The Lonely Crowd, and The Stinging Fly.

She has also won awards for her writing. In 2015, she won the Ambit Short Fiction, and that same year for Wasifiri New Writing. In 2016, she won for the John O’Connor prize and the Listowel Los-Gatos Prizes. In addition, she has also had much of her work make the short lists and has received various awards and accolades.

Kennedy has worked at the Seamus Heaney Centre, in Queens University Belfast, where she is a PhD candidate. She is researching the life and work of author Norah Hoult, who lived from 1898 to 1984.

She is the author of Trespasses, her first full length fictional novel. She also authored a short story collection called The End of the World is a Cul de Sac. The book came out in 2021.

In addition to authoring her own work, Kennedy has written for professional outlets such as the Irish Times, the Guardian, and BBC Radio 4. Before she was an author, she was a chef for nearly three decades. Today she still resides in Ireland in a town called Sligo.

Trespasses is a 2022 novel by Louise Kennedy. The story takes place in Northern Ireland during a time called the Troubles. This is the story of a a young woman, the main character Cushla, who gets caught between her loyalty to her community and a passion that may end up proving dangerous.

Violence has become a regular occurrence in Northern Ireland, with reports of violent activity being reported daily. By contrast, Cushla’s life is not like the daily strife at all. She resides quietly along with her mother close to Belfast in a small town.

Her days are taken up by her job, where she is a teacher at a parochial school. When the nighttime comes, she keeps busy helping out her family at their pub. She takes orders and pours drinks for the thirsty clientele. It is there that she first encounters Michael Agnew. He’s a barrister who has gotten a reputation for defending members of the IRA.

Cushla is interested in Michael, even though perhaps she shouldn’t be. The reasons for this are not that he’s older or that he’s Protestant, but the simple truth that he is married. Michael is interested in Cushla as well, and she feels herself getting drawn closer into his world buoyed by his charisma.

This world may be more sophisticated than she realizes, but it isn’t too long before passion ignites between the two of them and an affair begins. Then something happens out of the blue that will set off a reaction. A student’s father is horribly beaten, and the fallout from this event threatens everyone that she cares about and wishes to protect in this world.

Whether or not she will be able to protect them is not up to Cushla but to fate. Can she figure out a way to keep her family safe? Will she continue to see Michael, or will their affair end as quickly as it began?

Trespasses has all of the twists and turns a reader can want. Set unflinchingly in Northern Ireland and never backing down, follow along as Cushla navigates a complicated world while attempting to follow her instincts. A story of loyalty set in a place where wherever you are coming from may end up more than what you do or who you care about.

Pick up a copy of Trespasses to find out what happens with Cushla and all the associated characters! Kirkus Reviews praised the novel with characters that seem to ‘live under dark stars’ and says that the author illuminates the ‘unescapable harms’ that go on in the darkness.

Nick Hornby praises the novel as feeling ‘real and true’, with characters that seem like they are authentic and trying to live ‘ordinary’ lives in times that are desperate. Emma Donoghue praised the book for hitting hard and touching tenderly, calling it love story that also is a lament for a society that is pitted against itself.

The Guardian also had a positive impression of the novel, praising Kennedy’s ‘sense of utter conviction’ and the story, which is told with ‘compulsive attention’ to its world. The U.K.’s Sunday Times called the forbidden love story ‘heartbreaking’, while the Irish Independent said that the story feels as though it ‘transcends time and space’. The Irish Times praised the novel, saying that Kennedy writes with ‘fierce power’, in addition to ’empathy, style, and skill’. Sunday Independent simply praised Kennedy as a ‘master storyteller’.

The End of the World is a Cul de Sac is a collection of short stories written by Louise Kennedy. Check out the collection that the Guardian is calling ‘dazzling’ and ‘heartbreaking’. The Sunday Times also praised the novel, saying that Kennedy’s voice and her gaze are electric. Sinead Gleeson says the stories ‘sing, haunt, and inspire laughter’ and it was one of the ‘best collections’ she’s read in years.

It has been named a highlight for 2021 by the Times, Irish Times, and the Irish Independent. These stories are full of visceral enjoyment and the reader will find themselves going from one to the other to devour the next story!

Characters in these novels are true to life and they are often cruel to each other. The natural world is a salve for them. albeit a primitive one. Women find themselves trapped domestically by men that wish to prey on them. Irish politics is a huge topic, as is the variety of poverty one can experience, whether emotional, material, or sexual.

One story involves a younger woman that is haunted by visions of the man her brother murdered. In another, a new husband abandons his wife in a ghost estate. Meanwhile, a younger pregnant woman is nervous as her husband chooses to illegally grow cannabis with the assistance of a teen girl.

In another story, a woman gets an abortion and has a long journey to forgive herself and not let her marriage fall apart from the decision. Check out The End of the World is a Cul de Sac by Louise Kennedy and catch all of these interesting stories for yourself!