Tatty is the story of a Dublin family as told through the eyes of one of its children over a ten year period. During this time we see the destruction brought about by alcoholism as one little girl tries to come to terms with her parents’ drinking.
This is the story of a disturbed childhood, yet it is also filled with humour and love. Chapter by chapter, the child’s voice matures and her perception becomes more honed; we are left with a stunning portrait of a disintegrating family and the child lost within it.
Author Christine Dwyer Hickey said: “I’m absolutely delighted. Tatty is a novel that is connected to the city of Dublin in so many ways – it’s an honour to have it chosen as Dublin One City One Book for 2020.”
The Author
Christine Dwyer Hickey is a novelist, playwright and short story writer. She has published eight novels, one collection of short stories and a full-length play.
Tatty was published by New Island Books (2004) and by Vintage UK (2005). It was shortlisted for Irish Novel of The Year 2005, listed as one of the 50 Irish Novels of the Decade at the Irish Book Awards 2010 and was nominated for the Orange Prize (now the Women’s Fiction Prize).
Her other Dublin works include the Dublin Trilogy, the story of a Dublin family from 1918-1960 (New Island 2006); the short story collection Parkgate Street and other Dublin Stories
(New Island 2013) and The Cold Eye of Heaven (Atlantic UK 2011) which won the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year 2012 and was nominated for the IMPAC Award 2013 (now the International Dublin Literary Award).
Last Train from Liguria (Atlantic UK 2009) set in Italy during Mussolini’s Fascist regime was nominated for the Prix L’Européen de Littérature .
Her latest novel The Narrow Land (Atlantic UK 2019) is set on Cape Cod in 1950 and examines the turbulent marriage of American artists Edward and Jo Hopper.
Her latest novel The Narrow Land (Atlantic UK 2019) is set on Cape Cod in 1950 and examines the turbulent marriage of American artists Edward and Jo Hopper.
Christine’s stories have been published in anthologies and magazines worldwide and have won several awards the most recent of which was at for her story Back to Bones at the Irish Book Awards Short Story of the Year Award 2017.
Her play Snow Angels premiered at the Project Arts Theatre in 2014.
Her play Snow Angels premiered at the Project Arts Theatre in 2014.
Her work has been widely translated into European and Arabic languages and she is an elected member of Aosdána, the Irish academy of arts.
