Roisin Meaney Books in Order
This page lists Roisin Meaney books in order, with quick summaries, series notes, reading paths, and where to start with her Irish fiction.
Last updated: June 7, 2026
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Publication Order
25 books
The Daisy Picker
by Roisin Meaney
2004
Bored with her safe engagement and predictable life, Lizzie O'Grady drives west through Ireland in search of change. A seaside town called Merway offers work, friendship, and choices she cannot dodge.
Putting Out the Stars
by Roisin Meaney
2005
Three comfortable couples share dinner parties and old friendships, but their settled lives are full of pressure points. A new bride, a longing for children, and hidden surprises threaten the calm.
Don't Even Think About It
by Roisin Meaney
2006
Nearly thirteen-year-old Liz Jackson pours everything into her diary, from first-date panic to friendship trouble and life after her mother leaves. Funny, frank, and very protective of its private pages.
See If I Care
by Roisin Meaney
2007
Reluctant pen pals Luke and Elma both invent glossier lives in their letters. When real problems break through the make-believe, they discover that honesty may give them the friend they need.
The Last Week of May
by Roisin Meaney
2007
May O'Callaghan quits her safe office job and starts again as a Jill of all trades in Kilpatrick. Over one packed week, her neighbors' secrets, fears, and hopes collide around her.
The People Next Door
by Roisin Meaney
2008
On Miller's Avenue, numbers 7, 8, and 9 hide lives far more complicated than their neat doors suggest. Online dating, a cookery class, and a strained marriage bring neighbors closer than expected.
Half Seven on a Thursday
by Roisin Meaney
2009
Edward Bull directs an amateur mystery play to distract himself from his marriage troubles. As rehearsals begin, the cast's offstage lives become far more tangled than anything in the script.
Love in the Making / Semi-Sweet
by Roisin Meaney
2010
Hannah Robinson is about to open Cupcakes on the Corner when Patrick leaves her for another woman. With a deadline to save the business, Hannah finds that heartbreak and new beginnings can arrive together.
The Things We Do for Love /Life Drawing for Beginners
by Roisin Meaney
2011
Art teacher Audrey Matthews expects a quiet life-drawing class at Carrickbawn Senior College. Instead, six strangers arrive, and the lessons they share lead each of them toward changes they never saw coming.
One Summer
by Roisin Meaney
2012
Nell Mulcahy returns to Roone and rents out her seaside cottage to help pay for her wedding. The guests bring change, while Nell faces hard truths about Tim, his brother James, and home.
Something in Common
by Roisin Meaney
2013
An angry letter from aspiring writer Sarah to sharp-tongued reviewer Helen begins an unlikely friendship. Over two decades, their letters trace marriages, motherhood, loss, and a hidden connection from years before.
After the Wedding
by Roisin Meaney
2014
On Roone, Nell is ready to marry Tim's brother two years after calling off her first wedding. But a disappearance unsettles the island, testing new marriages, foster families, and first loves.
I'll Be Home for Christmas
by Roisin Meaney
2015
Three days before Christmas, Tilly travels across the world to reach Roone with a secret she can hardly bear alone. On the island, Laura is already stretched thin, and a storm is closing in.
Two Fridays in April
by Roisin Meaney
2015
Two April Fridays, one year apart, force Daphne, Isabel, and young Una to face grief, motherhood, and the fragile shape of family. Una wants to bring them together, but one mistake changes everything.
The Reunion
by Roisin Meaney
2017
The Plunkett sisters are invited to a twenty-year school reunion they would rather avoid. A letter pulls Caroline and Eleanor back toward the town, and the past, they have spent years trying to outrun.
The Street Where You Live
by Roisin Meaney
2017
During a heatwave, rehearsals for an end-of-summer concert bring a small-town choir together. Christopher, Molly, Emily, and the other singers carry private secrets that may not stay private until opening night.
The Anniversary
by Roisin Meaney
2018
The Cunninghams gather at their seaside holiday home for a long weekend, even though Lily and Charlie are divorcing and both have new partners. Old loyalties, new crushes, and one forgotten anniversary stir up trouble.
The Birthday Party
by Roisin Meaney
2019
Summer is back on Roone, and a big hotel birthday party is bringing old wounds to the surface. Imelda, Tilly, Laura, and the islanders face surprises that test love, loyalty, and friendship.
It's That Time of Year
by Roisin Meaney
2020
On the eve of Annie's winter wedding, three former foster children return to the home that once sheltered them. Julia, Eddie, and Steph bring old wounds with them, and celebration stirs the truth.
The Restaurant
by Roisin Meaney
2020
After being left at the altar, chef Emily builds a restaurant for solo diners and swears off romance. Two years later, her ex returns from Canada with a question that could upend everything.
The Book Club
by Roisin Meaney
2021
After a tragic accident shakes the seaside town of Fairweather, a close book club is left searching for steadier ground. Newcomer Tom brings his own secrets, and shared reading slowly opens the door to healing.
Life Before Us
by Roisin Meaney
2022
George, a devoted father and primary-school teacher, is ready to try online dating. Alice returns home heartbroken and jobless, and their lives circle each other in a gentle story about timing, loneliness, and hope.
A Winter to Remember
by Roisin Meaney
2023
Emily plans a warm Christmas dinner at her restaurant, but her guests arrive with unfinished business. Bill, Tom, Lil, and Heather must face old hurts before they can welcome a fresh season.
Moving On
by Roisin Meaney
2025
Ellen leaves her west coast hometown for Galway, London, and several versions of love. Ben, Leo, and childhood friend Danny shape her journey as she learns what home might really mean.
Second Chances
by Roisin Meaney
2026
Lydia moves to Ireland's west coast to restore Chance House with her new husband. After tragedy leaves her alone with a crumbling dream, the local community helps her consider starting over.
Where should I start?
For the Roone island stories: One Summer → After the Wedding → I'll Be Home for Christmas → The Birthday Party.
For warm stand-alone community drama: The Last Week of May → The People Next Door → The Book Club.
For romance and fresh starts: The Daisy Picker → Love in the Making / Semi-Sweet → Life Before Us → Moving On.
For recent reads: The Restaurant → A Winter to Remember → Moving On → Second Chances.
Author bio
Roisin Meaney was born in Listowel, County Kerry, and spent most of her growing-up years in Limerick city. Books were part of the scenery from early on, but her path to writing was not a straight line from notebook to bookshelf.
After school she trained as a primary teacher and taught in Dublin. She also spent time teaching English in Zimbabwe, then moved to London for a few years and worked as an advertising copywriter. That mix of classroom, travel, and short-form writing shows up later in her fiction: lots of different people, lots of private worries, and a sharp sense of how a small detail can reveal a life.
The big turn came in 2001, when she took a break from teaching and went to San Francisco, where one of her brothers lived. There she wrote The Daisy Picker, a story about Lizzie O'Grady walking away from a safe, dull life and heading west in Ireland to find out what else might be possible.
The gamble worked.
The Daisy Picker won a Write a Bestseller competition and was published in 2004. Meaney went back to teaching and wrote in her spare time, then gradually made more room for books. By 2008, after several novels, she left the classroom and became a full-time writer.
Her early adult novels helped set the shape of her work. Putting Out the Stars looks at the pressure behind apparently settled lives. The Last Week of May, which reached number one on the Irish bestseller list, follows a cluster of Kilpatrick neighbors over one busy week. The People Next Door uses one street to show how much can be hidden behind ordinary front doors.
Meaney often writes about Irish towns, coastal communities, friendships, second chances, and families that are loving but not simple. Her books are warm, but they don't pretend life is tidy. A wedding can come with grief. A new business can begin just as a relationship falls apart. A book club can become a place where people admit they are not coping as well as they look.
Roone gave her room to linger.
The Roone books, beginning with One Summer, return to an imaginary island off the west coast of Ireland. Readers who like recurring characters, island life, and linked stories often start there. Others go first to stand-alones such as The Book Club, Life Before Us, The Restaurant, or Moving On, which follow people rebuilding after loss, disappointment, or a badly timed love story.
Meaney has also written for younger readers, including Don't Even Think About It and See If I Care, the latter with Judi Curtin. Her books have been translated into several languages, and some have been published in the United States under alternate titles, including Semi-Sweet and Life Drawing for Beginners.
In 2023 she moved from Limerick to Miltown Malbay in West Clare, settling into a quieter coastal life within walking distance of the sea. She still writes, still visits schools and libraries, and still seems happiest when a story finds a small community and starts opening the doors.
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