Watch House, Paperback/Bernie McGill

Nuala Byrne is faced with a difficult decision. In this 19th century novel set on a remote Irish island, Nuala is abandoned by her family for the New World. She receives a proposal from the island's ageing tailor who offers a roof over her head, and she accepts. When strangers arrive to the island, she is sent to bring them food and forms a friendship with an Italian named Gabriel. Soon, she realises that perhaps the deal she struck with the tailor was a mistake. This offers a fresh perspective on the Victorian era, and is reminiscent of Hannah Kent's }Burial Rites{.