BOOK TOUR - Dolly Considine's Hotel by Eamone Somers

- June 09, 2022

Dolly Considine's Hotel

by Eamone Somers

June 6-12

Synopsis:

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-mâché figure of Mother Ireland giving birth and clashing sword-wielding dancers – this rich cocktail threatens to blow them, and even Ireland itself, wide apart..

I loved this book! The characters are interesting, relatable, and realistic. I could see myself being friends with the main characters and appreciated the backdrop of Irish politics during abortion law reform. The secrets contained in this book were thought provoking and had me wondering what other secrets would unfold. They style of writing flows easily and I found myself engaged from start to finish. I look forward to reading more from this author.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Thank you Eamone Somers, Unbound, and Travelling Pages. I'm excited to be a part of this tour.

Overall Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Author Bio:

Eamon Somers grew up above the small corner shop run by his parents in Dublin’s inner city.

After brief careers as a shop assistant, trainee motorcycle mechanic, courier, office worker, lounge boy, community facilitator, double glazing installer he moved to London. He worked for two years in Haringey Council’s Lesbian and Gay Unit, drawing on his several years’ experience of community development work with the National Gay Federation in Dublin. Redundancy from Haringey caused him to stumble into the social housing development career he enjoyed for the following thirty-two years.

From his early writing classes in the People’s College in 1970s Dublin, his studies at Birkbeck College London, summer schools at the Irish Writers’ Centre, to more recent zooming sessions with poet Diana Goetsch (via Paragraph NY), Eamon’s lifelong commitment to learning the art of creative writing, is obvious His short stories have been published in various magazines including Tees Valley Writer, Automatic Pilot, Chroma, The Journal of Truth and Consequences (which nominated his Fear of Landing for a Pushcart Prize), also in Quare Fellas, a collection of LGBT+ fiction published in Ireland. He is currently working on revisions to his novel A Very Foolish Dream, - Highly Commended in the 2019 Novel Fair sponsored by the Irish Writers’ Centre in Dublin. Dolly Considine’s Hotel is Eamon's debut novel.

Eamon is the happy father of three children. He and his Civil Partner Tomás are proud to be called Papa and Papi by their two lovely grandchildren. They increasingly divide their time between London, Dublin, and other parts of Ireland.

Author Links:

Twitter.com/mustbeeamon

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6879418.Eamon_Somers

Video of author reading 2 short extracts from the book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpJAlPeH5Cs

FREE short story sign up for Eamon Somers newsletter: https://www.eamonsomers.com/contact

Giveaway:

https://woorise.com/travellingpages/dolly-considines-hotel