Colin Barrett Books in Order

These stories follow young people and older outsiders in rural Ireland, particularly the fictional town of Glanbeigh. Pub conversations, thwarted desires and sudden violence reveal lives shaped by limited possibilities, fragile loyalties and the lasting marks of difficult youth.

Eight stories follow outsiders from County Mayo to Canada, exploring the disruptions beneath apparently ordinary lives. A fugitive interrupts a pub, a shooting unsettles a policewoman and a father’s illness destabilizes an aspiring writer in accounts of grief, frustration and belonging.

Reclusive Dev is unwillingly drawn into his cousins’ kidnapping scheme when they arrive at his home with a battered young captive. Across Ballina, the captive’s girlfriend searches for him, confronting the violence and uncertainty surrounding their small-town lives.