Irish writer’s book sales
soar
 SALES of books by Irish
writer John McGahern have surged since his death.
The author’s recently-published Memoir has shot back to number one
in the Irish hardback non-fiction chart.
And bookstores say they have received extra orders for his earlier books
including The Dark and Amongst Women.
Bookshops say many readers wanted to pay tribute to one of Ireland’s
best-loved writers following his death.
The author’s publishers, Faber and Faber, have delivered around
10,000 copies of Memoir to shops in the last two weeks in an effort to
cope with the rising demand for the book.
McGahern died of cancer aged 71 in the Mater Hospital in Dublin on March
30.
At his funeral in Co. Leitrim he was praised as one of Ireland’s
greatest novelists for his evocative depictions of rural life.
His 1965 book The Dark was banned by the Irish Censorship Board for its
references to clerical sexual abuse.
It also led to him losing his job as a teacher and he emigrated spending
time in London, Paris, Finland and America.
But he spent the final 33 years of his life with his wife Madeline on
a farm in Co. Leitrim where he wrote Amongst Women — which is considered
to be his masterpiece.
He also finished work on Memoir — an account of his childhood which
topped the Irish charts when it was published.
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