About the award
Since the late great Maeve Binchy first blazed the trail, Irish authors have built an international reputation for excellence in the genre of popular fiction, and the increasing number of emerging writers suggest that the dominance is likely to continue.
Sponsored by
The Shortlist 2021
The National Book Tokens Popular Fiction Book of the Year 2020
Home Stretch
By Graham Norton
Shame and longing can flow through generations, but the secrets of the heart will not be buried for ever.
It is 1987 and a small Irish community is preparing for a wedding. The day before the ceremony a group of young friends, including bride and groom, drive out to the beach. There is an accident. Three survive, but three are killed.
Previous Winners
2020 – Home Stretch by Graham Norton
2019 – Once, Twice, Three Times an Aisling by Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen
2018 – The Importance of Being Aisling by Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen
2017 – The Break by Marian Keyes
2016 – Holding by Graham Norton
2015 – The Way We Were by Sinéad Moriarty
2014 – The Year I Met You by Cecelia Ahern
2013 – Downturn Abbey by Ross O’Carroll Kelly
2012 – A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy
2011 – All For You by Sheila O’Flanagan
2010 – The Oh My God Delusion by Ross O’Carroll Kelly
2009 – This Charming Man by Marian Keyes
2008 – Take A Look At Me Now by Anita Notaro
2007 – Should Have Got Off at Sydney Parade by Ross O’Carroll Kelly