February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
IRISH IMMIGRANTS IN
NEW YORK CITY, 1945-1995
Linda Dowling Almeida
If one in three New York City residents is an immigrant, then a fair few of them are Irish. In this book, the author takes a look at Irish immigrants from 1945-95. She begins with one great period of immigration just beginning to start, and ends with a new era of immigration in full swing. New York’s Irish have left an indelible mark on the city and Almeida seeks to understand this by looking at the contrasts between 1950s immigrants and those so-called "new" Irish who have been coming in recent years. Expectations and achievements are different, and the contrast is revealing. Indiana University Press. 232 pp. $35.
THE SONGS I
LOVE SO WELL
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Phil Coulter
Would you believe it’s been 35 years since Phil Coulter began his career? With that in mind, Coulter has offered this album as a retrospective to three and a half decades of enduring songs, hence the title, "The Songs I Love So Well." And here, it’s Coulter, front and center, as he provides the vocals for the entire album. Coulter’s soft and heartfelt vocals illustrate the raw emotions of the songs with clarity, power and sentiment. "The Old Man" is a tribute to Coulter’s father, and reveals the power of his confessional style of lyric writing. And "Take Me Home" was written for a friend of Coulter’s who was working in Saudi Arabia. Shanachie Entertainment.
BELOVED STRANGER
Clare Boylan
An unusual and original story that explores a common-enough Irish theme: the familiar, domestic scene turned upside down by revealed secrets and madness. Author Boylan plumbs the intricate workings of marriage, family dynamics, women’s roles and the terrors of mental illness. Dick and Lily Butler have been together for 50 years, in what’s termed "if not real love, then affectionate accommodation," in a suburb of Dublin. Then one night, madness steals over Dick and he descends, dragging Lily with him, into insanity. Bound together for years, she and Dick are now marooned together. The book has its comic moments as well, and has a the pace of a thriller too. Ultimately, it is a sophisticated examination of love, marriage and madness. Counterpoint Books. 308 pp. $24.