New novel from best-selling Ballina author

Ballina writer Faith Hogan will be speaking at Focail Chósta in Belmullet this week.

Faith, a contemporary women’s fiction and crime fiction writer who also writes under the name Geraldine Hogan, was a winner in the 2014 Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair, an international competition for emerging writers.

From there Faith went on to publish several books and achieve even further acclaim, culminating in 2024 when her book ‘The Bookshop Ladies’ was shortlisted for An Post Book Award, with Graham Norton, Marian Keyes and Cecelia Ahern among the other nominees.

The best-selling author’s most recent book, The Women at Ocean’s End – her 11th novel - was published earlier this month, and is now available in bookshops.

The Women At Ocean's End is an uplifting story about three women who have to help each other if they want to help themselves. It is set on a fictional island, off the Mayo coast - Pin Hill Island is a thinly disguised ode to Achill.

Faith has written six books based in the fictional village of Ballycove, which she describes as "a mish mash of all the best parts of north Mayo". 

"Ballycove has elements of places from Easkey to Belmullet all mixed up into one small village," she told the Western People.

The author is going from strength to strength, with The Bookshop Ladies selling over 100,000 internationally.

"The funny thing is," she told the Western People, "readers from all over the world want to know about where the books are set - I'm often asked if it's a real place. Of course, I explain it is, here in Ballina alone, we have the river Moy, Belleek woods and the sea just a few miles away. For a writer, it's abundant with inspiration."

Faith Hogan will participate in Focail Chósta for an honest and inspiring chat about life, books and writing journeys. She will be speaking alongside writer Ruth O’Leary.

Both authors will bring warmth, wit and powerful storytelling to the occasion in Áras Inis Gluaire on Friday, June 13, at 3pm, part of this new weekend literary festival in Belmullet.