Edith

Martina Devlin, an award-winning columnist for the IrishIndependent and podcaster for Dublin City of Literature#CityofBooks, has delivered a new novel based on the life of EdithSomerville of 'Somerville and Ross' fame - authors of The Irish R.M. In this work, set during the turbulent period of Irish Independence1921-22, Somerville finds herself at a crossroads. Her position asa member of the Ascendancy is perilous as she struggles to keepher family home, Drishane House in West Cork, while others areburned out. After years in a successful writing partnership withViolet Martin, Edith continues to write after her partner's death,comforted in the belief they continue to connect through automaticwriting and séances. Against a backdrop of Civil War politics and lawlessness eruptingacross the country via IRA flying columns, people across Irelandare forced to consider where their loyalties lie. In Edith, Devlin limns a vivid historical context in this story ofproto-feminist Edith Somerville courageously trying to keep homeand heart in one piece. The story of Somerville and Ross is unique in the history of Irishwomen writers. Academic Shawn R. Mooney described thesebest-selling authors as 'undeniably New Women: single, educatedand economically independent writers whose lives and literarycollaboration were unique manifestations of late-nineteenthcentury feminist strivings toward political and sexual equality'.Devlin depicts Edith in the round, suffering from loss, striving forsafety, and keeping hold of hope in this captivating narrative setin the early years of a nascent state - a triumph of ventriloquismrooted in a society on the cusp of change.