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Roisin Meaney
Represented By: Sallyanne Sweeney
Roisin Meaney lives in the West of Ireland with too many cats. She has been writing contemporary fiction since 2001, and is published by Hachette Ireland and Sphere Books UK.
In her spare time she likes to bake, walk, cycle, read, avoid jellyfish when she dips in the sea, and browse in charity shops.
Once a month she tells stories in her local library to tots, and she is a regular contributor to A Word in Edgeways on RTE Radio 1.
She is always available for writing festivals, and loves to be invited to talk to schoolchildren, book clubs and other groups about her writing life.
Represented By: Sallyanne Sweeney
Roisin Meaney lives in the West of Ireland with too many cats. She has been writing contemporary fiction since 2001, and is published by Hachette Ireland and Sphere Books UK.
In her spare time she likes to bake, walk, cycle, read, avoid jellyfish when she dips in the sea, and browse in charity shops.
Once a month she tells stories in her local library to tots, and she is a regular contributor to A Word in Edgeways on RTE Radio 1.
She is always available for writing festivals, and loves to be invited to talk to schoolchildren, book clubs and other groups about her writing life.
Published Works
Author: Roisin Meaney
Genre: Genre Fiction
The sparkling new novel from the best-selling Irish author Roisin Meaney.
When chef Emily is left at the altar in front of her family and friends, she swears off love and instead throws herself into her new business: a restaurant with a difference. There’s only one communal table, designed with the single diner in mind.
Now it’s two years later, and with her business thriving with regular customers, romance is still the last thing on Emily’s mind – until she receives a letter from her ex who is returning home from Canada with a burning question for her….
Will Emily give up her business for the life she used to want, or will she realise that happiness might be on the menu a little closer to home?
“A thoughtful engrossing read. Warm and insightful. Roisin Meaney is a skilful storyteller”
- Sheila O'Flanagan“A lovely and absorbing book by a novelist who has a gift for conveying the charm of the ordinary”
- Irish Independent“This book is like chatting with a friend over a cup of tea - full of gossip and speculation, and all the things that make life interesting”
- Irish Mail on Sunday
Author: Roisin Meaney
Genre: Genre Fiction
Numbers 7, 8 and 9 of Miller’s Avenue look like any other houses in any other well-kept neighbourhood. But behind these brightly coloured doors live people with very complicated lives.
When Yvonne in number 7 joins an online dating website, she’s looking for something more than friendship but after a series of disastrous encounters, decides to shut down her account. Is she shutting out her only chance of finding love?
Next door in number 8, Dan signs up for a cookery course, determined to move on after his wife’s desertion. But as his lemon souffle rises, so does his interest in someone close to home. Will his fingers get burned second time around?
Further along in number 9, Kathryn is struggling to keep her marriage together despite the best efforts of her interfering mother-in-law. As tension grows between the two women, Kathryn wonders if Grainne will finally succeed, as she realises that she may never give her husband Justin what he wants.
As the drama unfolds along Millers Avenue, the inhabitants learn that the things you most yearn for can often be found on your own doorstep.
Author: Roisin Meaney
Genre: Genre Fiction
When Edward Bull agreed to direct the amateur production of Death by Dying, he thought it would take his mind off his wife’s recent affair. He was soon to discover, however, that all the real drama was taking place off-stage …
The Players
Maria, trapped in a loveless marriage to an older man, makes an appalling discovery. If pushed, she knows she will do whatever it takes to protect her vulnerable son, Pat. But will she find the strength to do the one thing that would save them both?
Her sister Ellen, scarred after a tragic motorbike accident, seeks comfort where she can find it. Will she finally come to terms with what happened . . . and, perhaps, open her heart to love again?
Handsome, charming Robert glides through life. When Caroline threatens to take his sons away from him, however, he realises that everything he ever wanted was right under his nose. But is it too late?
And then there’s colourful Theo, gentle Harry and independent Judith, each with their own stories …
As the weeks pass, the cast members of Death by Dying are brought together and their lives intertwine. And, as opening night draws near, they learn that in life there’s no such thing as a dress rehearsal.
Author: Roisin Meaney
Genre: Genre Fiction
Hannah Robinson is just about to open the doors to her new shop Cupcakes on the Corner when out of the blue her boyfriend Patrick announces that he’s leaving her for another woman.
Faced with starting a business on her own, Hannah begins to wonder if her life-long dream has just turned into a nightmare.
So her best friend Adam sets his birthday as a deadline – seven months to make her shop a success, or walk away from it all. And as Hannah immerses herself in early-morning icing, she soon discovers that she’s too busy to think about Patrick and his now pregnant girlfriend . . . or to notice an increasingly regular customer who has recently developed a sweet tooth for all things cupcake . . .
But while Hannah is slowly piecing her life back together, family friend Alice’s is falling apart. Her husband Tom’s drinking is getting out of control and things are about to get a whole lot worse.
As the seven-month milestone approaches, Hannah must decide her future. And while she’s figuring out what’s really important, it becomes clear to everyone that happiness in life, and in love, is all in the making.
“Meaney has crafted a heartwarming story of a small community and its inhabitants' very different searches for happiness and love. This is sweet and satisfying fare that readers are bound to devour.”
- Irish Independent
Author: Roisin Meaney
Genre: Genre Fiction
One crisp September evening art teacher Audrey Matthews sits alone in room six at Carrickbawn Senior College, wondering if anyone is going to sign up for her Life Drawing for Beginners class.
By eight o’clock six people have arrived. Six strangers who will spend two hours together every week until Halloween, learning the fine art of life drawing.
Nobody could have predicted on that cold autumn day the profound effect the class would have on its students and their lives.
Least of all Audrey, the biggest beginner of all, who is to discover that once you keep an open mind, life – and love – can throw up more than a few surprises …
Author: Roisin Meaney
Genre: Genre Fiction
Age Group: 10-13
Liz Jackson is living with her dad since her mum walked out, and things aren’t going well at home. She starts to write a diary, in which she catalogues the ups and downs of being an almost-teenager…
Hi, I’m Liz Jackson. I’m 13 (almost).
I’m also a latchkey kid since Mam walked out: now it’s just me and Dad and big-bum Marjorie, oh, and my best friend Bumble (soon to be ex-best friend).
Things I love: White Musk perfume, Eminem, pepperoni and pineapple pizza and the pizza delivery boy.
Things I hate: the girl next door, my Dad’s lumpy porridge and my gross chin dimple.
Things I’m terrified of: my first date (coming up soon), my first date (not long now), and my first date (just around the corner).
This is my diary. Anyone who opens it will die a slow and horrible death.
So Don’t Even Think About It!
Don’t Even Think About It is part of the O’Brien Press’s new Journal series for girls.
Author: Roisin Meaney
Genre: Children’s
Age Group: 10-13
Two schools, one in Ireland and one in England, have decided to set up a pen-pal programme between their pupils. Luke is hoping to get an English boy to write to, but instead he gets stuck with Elma, who would prefer an Irish girl as her penpal. Reluctantly, the two begin their correspondence.
Life is not going well for either Luke or Elma, so they invent new, more glamorous lives for themselves in their letters, little realising how similar their true lives actually are.
However, when things take a turn for the worse, Elma has no one to confide in except Luke. He offers some useful advice and in turn tells the truth about his life and family.
Together they realise that things are beginning to look up….
Author: Roisin Meaney
Genre: Genre Fiction
It’s three days before Christmas…
Tilly boards a plane on the other side of the world. She’s determined to reach Roone, a small island off the west coast of Ireland, in time for Christmas Day. Tilly carries a troubling secret and Laura, a woman she’s never met, might be the only one who can help her.
Except that Laura has no idea that Tilly exists. And with five children, a mother-in-law stranded on the island and a husband with whom she’s barely on speaking terms, an unexpected guest is the Christmas present she hasn’t been waiting for… A storm is heading for the island, but will peace be restored before the snow melts?
I’ll Be Home for Christmas is a feel-good tale of magic, sparkle and new beginnings from bestselling author Roisin Meaney.
Author: Roisin Meaney
Genre: Genre Fiction
Lizzie O’Grady is about to change her life.
After one too many New Year’s spent watching bad television, and one too many dull outings with dependable fiance Tom, she decides to chuck it all in, throw her backpack into her little Fiesta, and set off into the Wild West – of Ireland, that is – on the road trip of a lifetime.
Along the way she manages to meet a cast of interesting characters, live in a caravan, accidentally get a new job, and lose the boring fiance.
But, as is often the way in life, things are not as they should be. Pitching up in the little seaside town of Merway, she doesn’t intend to stay long, but the down-at-heel charm of the place and the warmth of the locals draw her in.
As winter turns to summer, Lizzie begins to realise that the past cannot be shrugged off like an old winter coat, and that here, too, she must make difficult choices.
Author: Roisin Meaney
Genre: Genre Fiction
Laura and Donal, Breffni and Cian, Andrew and Ruth: three contented middle-class couples, gathering at each other’s houses for dinner parties, bound together by shared memories of childhood adventures.
But, beneath the cosy contentment of their lives lies tensions that threaten to erupt at any moment.
Andrew, Laura’s handsome brother, has just returned home from Crete with his bride in tow, the surprisingly timid Ruth, who is finding it hard to fit in with Andrew’s overbearing mother, Cecily.
And, to her increasing concern, Andrew doesn’t seem to have his mind entirely on her…Laura is desparate to have a family, and can’t understand why Donal doesn’t seem to share her only wish.
And the beautiful, glamorous Breffni, with her lovely husband, Cian, and the golden child, Polly, well, she has the greatest surprise in store…
Author: Roisin Meaney
Genre: Genre Fiction
As May fits into her new life we meet her friend Pam and her husband Jack – but why is Pam terrified to tell Jack that she’s pregnant?
And then there’s Denis and Bernard, May’s next-door neighbours, going about their business oblivious to the deadly threat that lurks close by.
There’s Paddy, who lives on his own yet never seems to be at home.
And Paul, three doors up, willing to risk everything for an affair with Carmel, the young teacher who has yet to learn that there’s a price to pay for having something that shouldn’t be yours.
But what May can’t figure out is who gave her the beautiful shell necklace and was it really meant for her?
On this one particular week, all is about to change for the inhabitants of Kilpatrick and May discovers that while only love can break your heart, only love can put it back together.
Author: Roisin Meaney
Genre: Genre Fiction
It’s Friday, April 2.
Daphne Darling knows that she should be celebrating her stepdaughter Una’s 17th birthday, but it’s hard, because the date also marks the one-year anniversary of her husband’s death and she and Una just can’t seem to connect anymore. Daphne can’t turn to her own mother Isobel for advice as their relationship is distant, to say the least, and Mo, Finn’s elderly mother, is still grief-stricken at the death of her only son, so she is of little help. But by the end of that day in April, marking the occasion with a slice of cake and a glass of wine will be the last thing on anyone’s mind…
Before that Friday, Daphne, Mo and Isobel were all stuck in the past, with their grief and their loss. And then Una takes matters into her own hands, and even though she makes a terrible mistake, she teaches Daphne, Mo and Isobel something about life: that it is to be lived and that, in spite of everything they’ve been through, happiness can still be a part of it.
Author: Roisin Meaney
Genre: Genre Fiction
It’s the beginning of May on the island of Roone and Nell Mulcahy, having called off her wedding to the handsome Tim Baker, has finally admitted her love for his brother James – a love everyone else on the island recognised long before she did.
Now Nell is setting off for County Clare, to a church overlooking the sea, to say ‘I do’ to the Mr. Baker she was meant for all along.
But when James and Nell return to their home after the wedding, they find Roone rocked by the disappearance of a young girl holidaying on the island.
As the summer progresses, and Nell and James navigate the ups and downs of life as a married couple – along with Tim’s return to Roone – the search for the girl continues. And the island residents discover that everything can change in a single moment. But will happiness be restored before autumn comes?
Author: Roisin Meaney
Genre: Genre Fiction
Our lives are defined by other people. Some are with us from the start: parents, siblings, childhood friends. Others find us later: work colleagues, lovers.
But occasionally there are people whose paths cross ours in unexpected ways – people who are destined to change our lives profoundly. One rainy afternoon two very different women meet, and through a twist of fate, Helen and Sarah become unlikely friends. This is the story of their friendship – from its traumatic beginning to its most unforeseen end.
Author: Roisin Meaney
Genre: Genre Fiction
On Roone, an island off the west coast of Ireland, stands a stone cottage by the edge of the sea.
The locals are convinced that it brings luck to those who live there and Nell, its current owner, is certain there’s something to it. After all, it drew her back to the island from Dublin and it brought her Tim, her fiancé, whom she’s set to marry in a few short months.
So when Nell decides to rent out the cottage during the summer to raise money for her wedding, deep down she hopes that it will work its magic and attract the right tenants to her home. But as the summer unfolds and Nell’s carefully-laid plans for her wedding start to go awry, she begins to question her decision to let out her beloved cottage. As the arrival of each of the tenants brings about unexpected change to the lives of the islanders, Nell is forced to face some home truths about herself and answer one increasingly burning question . . . One thing’s for certain, it’s a summer on the island that nobody will ever forget.
Author: Roisin Meaney
Genre: Genre Fiction
It’s their twenty-year school reunion but the Plunkett sisters have their own reasons for not wanting to attend …
Caroline, now a successful knitwear designer, spends her time flying between her business in England and her lover in Italy. As far as she’s concerned, her school days, and what happened to her the year she left, should stay in the past.
Eleanor, meanwhile, is unrecognisable from the fun-loving girl she was in school. With a son who is barely speaking to her, and a husband keeping a secret from her, revisiting the past is the last thing on her mind.
But when an unexpected letter arrives for Caroline in the weeks before the reunion, memories are stirred.
Will the sisters find the courage to return to the town where they grew up and face what they’ve been running from all these years?
The Reunion is a moving story about secrets, sisters and finding a way to open your heart.
Author: Roisin Meaney
Genre: Genre Fiction
Over six weeks of summer, during the country’s hottest heatwave in years, members of a choir prepare for an end of summer concert, but as the notes soar so, too do the scandals and secrets …
Molly sees a young boy who she’s convinced is her grandson but how does she find out the truth when her son Philip ran away to New Zealand five years ago? Could he have fathered a son and then vanished? And is he ever going to return?
Meanwhile Molly’s daughter Emily has fallen in love for the second time in her life. Except this time it’s with the wrong man …
While handsome and dynamic Christopher, choir leader, has closed off his heart to relationships a long time ago, making do with snatched trysts with married Jane, the newest member of the choir. It’s exactly the level of commitment he wants and needs – or is it?
Then there’s Clem, nursing his own private heartache, and Freddie, the children’s author, who has just moved to Ireland from America with her young daughter in tow.
As the heatwave breaks, so too does the veneer of calm in the small town. As performance night approaches, the members of the choir discover that their lives intertwine more than they could ever have imagined – but are the inhabitants of the town ready for what happens next?
“The charm here is all in the writing… The interwoven lives of Molly and her neighbours perfectly illustrate, in spare, moving prose, the desires, disappointments, and, ultimately, the beauty in day-to-day life.”
- Irish Independent
Author: Roisin Meaney
Genre: Genre Fiction
After twenty-six years of marriage Lily and Charlie separate. Lily moving on with her new fiancé Joe, and Charlie, with his new, younger, girlfriend Chloe.
Even Lily and Charlie’s grown-up children Polly and Thomas have come to terms with their parent’s new lives.
But when Lily’s mother dies, Land’s End, the old family home where the family spent their summers, is put up for sale and, for old times’ sake, Lily and Charlie decide to get the family together for one last weekend – a weekend that just happens to be their thirtieth wedding anniversary.
As the whole family gathers with their respective partners, home truths come out and secrets are divulged. By the end of the weekend, everything will have changed — but for better or for worse?
Author: Roisin Meaney
Genre: Genre Fiction
Another summer is in full swing on the island of Roone, and preparations are underway for a big birthday party at the local hotel. But beneath the air of celebration, many of the islanders have their own struggles to contend with.
Imelda, isolated by her recent heartbreak, has no memory of accepting a month-long Bed & Breakfast booking, but when a stranger turns up on her doorstep looking forward to his stay, she has little choice but to take him in. On the other side of the world, Tilly packs her bag for a visit to Roone to spend time with her sister Laura and her long-distance boyfriend Andy, wholly unaware of the trauma that awaits her there. Meanwhile, Laura is struggling to digest a startling confession when she finds her stepmother on her doorstep, young son in tow, having left her husband.
During six weeks of summer, love and friendships are tested – and, as the day of the party approaches, the various truths will out in unexpected ways.
Author: Roisin Meaney
Genre: Genre Fiction
It’s the day before the wedding …
Three strangers arrive home to Ireland to the house that gave each of them refuge when they needed it most. They are there to celebrate the winter wedding of their beloved Annie, the woman who fostered them in their childhoods.
Now Julia is a world-famous singer living in luxury in Paris and Eddie is a chef in London, while Steph spends her days on a remote Greek island, running a writers’ retreat with her older lover.
All three have moved on from the past, but as the wedding celebrations get underway, certain truths come to light. It turns out that some hurts last longer than others …
As Annie says ‘I do’, with an unexpected twist for her wedding party, will Julia, Eddie and Steph discover their own happy-ever-afters in time for Christmas Day?
It’s That Time of Year is the spellbinding, warm-hearted new novel from one of Ireland’s best-loved writers.
“Warm... uplifting - Roisin Meaney is a gifted storyteller.”
- Sheila O'Flanagan, bestselling author
Author: Roisin Meaney
Genre: Genre Fiction
A tragic accident leaves the tight-knit book club in the small seaside town of Fairweather reeling.
Then stranger Tom McLysaght arrives in the community, and the members of the club find their lives changing in ways they never could have imagined.
None of them realise that Tom is hiding a secret. On the surface, his move to Fairweather was to escape his highflying life in London and to put some much-needed distance between him and his ex-fiancée – but deep down Tom knows that there are some things he cannot run from.
As the months pass with book club gatherings, secrets are shared and hurts begin to heal. New friendships might be the last thing on their minds but the members of the book club are about to discover that opening themselves up to other people might be the only thing that will help them all to live, and to love, again.
Author: Roisin Meaney
Genre: Genre Fiction
Three facts about George
His daughter Suzi is the best thing in his life.
He thinks it might finally be time to get over Suzi’s mum.
He’s never tried online dating but there’s a first time for everything.
Three facts about Alice
She’s about to find out that her boyfriend is lying to her.
She never expected to return to her hometown (especially not without a job or a place to live).
Even though her heart has been trampled on, she’s still holding out for love.
One fact about love
It’s out there for George and Alice.
All that needs to happen is for them to meet
Author: Roisin Meaney
Genre: Genre Fiction
Emily loves the festive season. This year she’s hosting a special Christmas lunch at her restaurant to celebrate with family and friends. But as the big day draws near, her plans begin to unravel …
Emily and her partner Bill are happily raising his grandson Pip when Bill’s troubled daughter Christine turns up out of the blue. She wants to pick up the pieces of her life, and to reclaim her son. Can Emily give up the boy she’s come to love as her own? And how can she ask Bill to choose between the two women he loves?
Emily’s best friend Heather is also dealing with unexpected arrivals: the mother she left behind as a teenager, who now needs her help, and a man she thought she’d never see again. But Heather wonders if these reunions will heal past wounds, or only disrupt the happiness she has now.
As Emily and Heather’s lives become more and more complicated, will they find their way back to happiness and the people they love in time for Christmas Day?
Author: Roisin Meaney
Genre: Genre Fiction
THE IRISH TIMES BESTSELLER
Three great loves. Two very different countries. One step closer to finding her way home…
As a new decade begins, hopeless romantic and big dreamer Ellen is finally moving on from her hometown.
In Galway she takes a job in a bookshop, and somewhere between the dusty bookshelves and the quiet afternoons, a bookseller called Ben finds a place in her heart.
Fast forward, and the bright lights (and cosy flats) of London are calling Ellen’s name. There she meets Leo, a charming, attentive City banker who’s everything she’s ever wanted.
And wherever she goes, her heart beats in time with her childhood friend, Danny – though they never seem to be in the right place at the right time.
If home is where the heart is, where will Ellen’s lead her?
One Day meets The Flatshare in this uplifting romance, perfect for fans of Marian Keyes, Lucy Diamond and anyone who loved the TV show, Love Life.
“Meaney weaves wonderful, feelgood tales of a consistently high standard.”
- The Irish Examiner
Author: Roisin Meaney
Genre: Genre Fiction
It's never too late for second chances...
For the first time in her life, Lydia is taking a great big leap of faith. She's moving to a small town on the West Coast of Ireland to overhaul a large, long-abandoned residence named Chance House with her new husband.
Then tragedy strikes, and Lydia is reminded why she doesn't take chances. Suddenly she's facing a very different prospect: a half-finished ramshackle estate, an overgrown garden, dwindling funds, no-one to turn to - and everywhere she looks, reminders of the love she's lost.
Starting over feels impossible. Staying put feels harder still. But when the local community rallies around her and Lydia is unexpectedly reminded of the power of new beginnings, she realises she might just owe it to herself and them to take a second chance on Chance House...
From the Irish bestseller comes a brand-new, heart-breaking yet hopeful read about the importance of community and the power of starting over - perfect for fans of Lucy Diamond, Cathy Bramley and Jill Mansell.