Books by Jaki McCarrick

Set in the border ''bandit'' country of County Monaghan, The Mushroom Pickers tells the story of Laura, an accomplished actor who leaves her career in London when her life unexpectedly changes course. A self-confessed ''square peg in a round hole,'' she returns home to joinher father, Philip, to work in the local mushroom tunnels. Here Frank McElroy, manager of the family-run business and proponent of the wilder variety of mushroom, takes a shine to Laura and shares with her his dream of wooing the restaurateurs of Ireland and beyond. But Frank has a secret - and so does Laura

Based on the story of a real-life crime that happened at the tail-end of the longest recession in Ireland''s history, Leopoldville is a play about a gang of young men who rob a pub in a border town. Damaged lives are revealed and friendships profoundly tested as their crime spiralshorrifically out of control.

Escaping the Irish famine in 1850 five young women seek passage on a ship to Australia. For many of the 'orphan girls' on board, the voyage offers a fresh start. But some girls find they cannot escape the memory of the lives they've left behind - and that the closer they get to Australia the more powerful the past becomes.