A Ghost in the Throat

The best book I have read this year; it is gorgeous in ways both familiar and unexpected, both delightful and tragic. The prose overflows with insight and contagious wonder. Every chapter is worth savoring.

I love the world this book sucks you into, it's about a woman's obsession with a poem written in Ireland in the 17th century and the author's kind-of detective story in finding the meaning and more about the life of the Poet who wrote it. It's beautifully written the thoughts and feelings float off the page in such an engaging way that it becomes a page-turner which ends too soon. Because of COVID I've had nearly a year of reading, 30 books so far, and this is easily my favourite and up there with my all-time favourite reads.

Wonderful writing. The author’s background is in poetry and in Irish, and I believe this is her first full-length work in English. If you are unfamiliar with Irish history, everything can be googled, but in the book the contemporary writer is describing her own life in the context of her obsession with a woman who wrote a poem (or caoineadh, a lament) 200 years before. This woman’s husband was killed, leaving her with young children and pregnant. Doireann Ni Ghriofa also has a young family, and the end result is a marvelous read.

Loved it, beautifully written. Lovely to have the irish poems and the translations. Doireann is a skilled author which is shown in every page

This story is sublime. It is a 'female text'. So thoughtful and beautifully written. I have reread it and will be gifting it to friends. It's brave and such a passionate pursuit by the author.

I savoured every page and will keep it close to read and re-read again. I genuinely didn't want it to end.