What’s booking for March

As the month draws to a close, Aine Toner has compiled a list of some of the best reads March threw up some great reads For those of us old enough to remember, Patricia Scanlan is back with a fond look at some favoured characters in City Girls Forever by Patricia Scanlan (Simon & Schuster). It has been over 30 years since Devlin, Maggie and Caroline left an imprint on my heart. After my mother completed City Girls, I was allowed to read it, and felt very grown-up to be so engrossed in life for ladies who knew what they wanted even if they didn’t always get it.

Now three decades later, the friends still adore each other – but life isn’t without its share of setbacks. Shock revelations, the impact of Covid and romantic woes can happen at any age, even if you think you’ve got your life together. It is so wonderful to have them back and see them as prepared as ever to take on life.



Elaine Garvey’s The Wardrobe Department (Canongate Books) is one for those who love the backstage of theatre world. Mairead may be in London physically, avoiding unwanted hands and living in a world of pins, zips and threads, but her mind and heart are in Ireland, a place that no longer feels home and which she left. London is a chance for a rebirth of sorts, but she currently neither feels as though she fits in there or in Donegal and Leitrim.

Vividly written, it’d be difficult not to draw Mairead into your heart..