'A strange, original and unusual novel, which takes two unlikely worlds and yokes them together. Remarkable ... I've never read anything quite like it' Carlo Gebler

Dolly Considine runs a late-night drinking establishment catering to the needs of thirsty politicians and theatricals in Dublin's legendary drinking area, the Catacombs.

Julian Ryder (aka Paddy Butler) is an eighteen-year-old aspiring writer in need of shelter from his bullying older brother.

As the new live-in lounge assistant at Dolly Considine's Hotel, Julian soon embroils himself in the shebeen's gossip - and the guests' bedsheets - and turns Dolly's entourage into fodder for his literary ambitions. Reality quickly becomes difficult to separate from fantasy...

Set against the run-up to the Pro-life Constitutional Amendment of September 1983 and moving fluidly between the 1950s of Dolly's youth and Julian's Summer of Unrequited Love, the hotel becomes a stage for farce and tragedy. Between Julian's fictions, Dolly's Secrets, and narrow party politics - and featuring a papier-mache figure of Mother Ireland giving birth and clashing sword-wielding dancers - this rich cocktail threatens to blow them, and even Ireland itself, wide apart.

A young writer is fictionalising the lives of Dolly's guests. Will it get him loved or killed - or both?

About the Author

Eamon grew up in Dublin and became a campaigner in the fledgling gay liberation movement, serving three terms as spokesperson for Ireland's National Gay Federation. He moved to London in the mid-1980s. After two years working with Haringey Council's Lesbian and Gay Unit (including the anti-Clause 28 campaign) he became involved in social housing development, which became his chosen career.

Eamon studied at the People's College in 1970s Dublin, before going on to London's Goldsmiths and later Birkbeck College. Eamon's short stories have been published in literary magazines including Tees Valley Writer, Automatic Pilot and Chroma. The Journal of Truth and Consequences nominated his 'Fear of Landing' for a Pushcart Prize, and 'Natai Bocht' was included in Quare Fellas, a collection of LGBT+ fiction published by Basement Press in Ireland.

Eamon is the father of three wonderful children. He and his Civil Partner Tomas have two lovely grandchildren, Daragh and Alva. Eamon and Tomas divide their time between London, Dublin, and other parts of Ireland. Dolly Considine's Hotel is his debut novel.

Reviews

'A strange, original and unusual novel, which takes two unlikely worlds and yokes them together. Remarkable ... I've never read anything quite like it' Carlo Gebler

Book Information
ISBN 9781789651294
Author Eamon Somers
Format Paperback
Page Count 320
Imprint Unbound Digital
Publisher Unbound