by Martha Ewence
LIMERICK-born writer Martine Madden has reached no. 4 in the Irish Times bestseller list. Her debut novel, ‘Anyush’ will be launched on Thursday June 19 at 6pm in O’ Mahony’s Booksellers, O’ Connell St.
‘Anyush’ centres on the story of Anyush Charcoudian, a young Armenian woman who lives with her widowed mother. It is a romantic novel set against the backdrop of the Armenian-Turkish conflict of 1915.
The book has already received high praise from Donal Ryan, (author of ‘The Spinning Heart’) and writer and journalist Conor O Clery who deemed it outstanding for a debut novel.
Writing was always something Martine wanted to pursue as she remembers her father writing short stories about growing up in Limerick with the use of a dictaphone in a reminiscent “Alice Taylor” style.
Ms Madden explained that with “Anyush” she did not want to write a simple love story but to shed light on what she considered to be the most important aspect of the book, the Armenian genocide.
She also said that she was vey much looking forward to the launch as it means a lot to her to return to her hometown, Limerick; “Im excited, it will be like a homecoming”.
