Jennifer Johnston – författare

Mamie, the caretaker of a performing hall, lives in its dusty attic. Taking little care of the building and less of herself, she spends most of her time and money on whiskey and cigarettes. Mamie hears Romeo and Juliet which is being performed and it brings back happy and sad memories.

2 women, 2 men

Not every death is a tragedy. Not every silver lining is intact. Annie''s father is dead. She isn''t sorry. A rich and domineering man, he was always more passionate about money than the happiness of his wife and child. And when his lovely, fragile wife Jude died in mysterious circumstances when Annie was still very young, her father sent her to school in England, and tried to ensure that Jude was never mentioned again.Now, at last, his days of tyranny are over. And so Annie leaves London and goes back to Dublin, to the house in which he lived and her mother died, where she makes the first of several startling discoveries: he has left her the house she hated. Now, just when she thought she was free of him, she is expected to make a new life in Ireland, and live as he would have wished. Does she dare to defy him one more time? From Costa prizewinning and Booker-shortlisted Jennifer Johnston comes a beautifully crafted, alluring tale of family and secrets.

A poignant debut novel of age, loneliness and friendship across divides...Mr Prendergast, an elderly Anglo-Irishman, is living out his last years in the decaying splendour of his family mansion. As his mind wanders through the gloom he finds it peopled with memories of his neglected wife, his pale shadow of a father, his icily glamorous mother and Alexander, the son she so jealously loved, killed in the First World War.With only his ill-tempered alcoholic gardener left to attend to him, Mr Prendergast is content to pass his days in such ghostly company. Until young Diarmid arrives, keen-eyed and carrot-haired, to disperse the gathering darkness with curiosity, and the promise of friendship.''Assured and skilful'' Sunday Times

All families are complicated, but some are more complicated than others. And Christmas can only make matters worse. After Ciara''s estranged father is nearly killed by his second wife in a car accident - or was it an accident? - Ciara begins, gingerly, to re-enter his life. As her troubled family gather for the holidays, is it too much to hope that they begin to find peace at last? Of course it is. With twins, new loves and an unpredictably monstrous matriarch, Christmas was never going to be easy. But it proves both more disastrous and happier than any of the family could have guessed.''Her writing is a joy: dialogue snaps with life while Johnston''s distinctive prose is at once supremely comfortable and delightfully brisk'' Daily MailWhat readers say about FOOLISH MORTALS:''A very pleasurable and intelligent read; not a word wasted, and characters that feel real. Highly recommended''''One of my favourite authors''