Aisling (book series)

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The Aisling, (sometimes referred to as OMGWACA) [1] [2] series of novels are five adult fiction books by Irish journalists and authors Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen. The series began with Oh My God, What a Complete Aisling The Novel, based on an Aisling (or Ais) character archetype created by the authors and discussed in the "oh my god what a complete aisling" Facebook group. [3] [4] To date there are five books in the series. [5] They are published by Gill Books and Penguin Books. [6] [7] The series was optioned as a film before being worked into a yet-to-be-produced TV series. [8] [9]

Contents

Description

Aisling began as a stock character type, a "culchie" from "Ballygobackwards" (BGB), [10] [11] up in the "big smoke" Dublin. [3] [4] Other stock characters, Mad Tom [11] Deddeh, Memmeh, Niamh and Fionn, all from "Across The Road" (FATR) were used by users in posts to describe Aisling's life and eccentricities. [12] About Aisling, Sarra Manning, of Red Online, wrote that readers "laugh with her, never at her ... [admiring] her for the same traits that we don't necessarily value in ourselves. We love her because she's a complete Aisling and we wouldn't have her any other way". [13] To date, the series contains five books: [5]

Reception

Actress Tara Flynn, writing for The Irish Times, thought that it would have been easy to make a book of lists about the characters, but that the first novel gave "Aisling the flesh and bones she deserves, and a story that licks along at a pace". [12] Flynn hoped for a movie adaptation, and suggested she might portray Memmeh. [12] Síle Ní Choincheannain, of Mary I College has described the series as having "deftly captured a unique Irish archetype and modern heroine". [14] TheJournal.ie described the first book as a "publishing phenomenon". [15]

The Importance of being Aisling won the 2018 "Popular Irish Fiction" category at the Irish Book Awards, [16] with Once, Twice, Three Times an Aisling winning the same prize in 2019, [17] and Aisling in the City in 2021. [18]

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References

  1. ↑ "OMGWACA Series by Emer McLysaght". Goodreads.com .
  2. ↑ McLysaght, Emer (26 August 2023). "Farewell Aisling: Immense highs, excruciating lows and even heckling poor Graham Norton" . The Irish Times .
  3. 1 2 Flood, Alison (8 December 2017). "Six-figure deal for 'Irish Bridget Jones' series". The Guardian .
  4. 1 2 "oh my god what a complete Aisling facebook group" . Facebook.com.
  5. 1 2 "Here's when the last Oh My God...What a Complete Aisling book comes out". 27 June 2023.
  6. ↑ O'Donoghue, Denise (29 July 2021). "OMG! Aisling's back for a fourth book and she's jetting off to the biggest smoke yet". IrishExaminer.com .
  7. ↑ "Emer McLysaght". Penguin.co.uk .
  8. ↑ "Oh My God, What a Complete Aisling authors sign two-book deal with possibility of film deal". TheJournal.ie . 6 December 2017.
  9. ↑ "An 'Oh My God What a Complete Aisling' TV Series is in the Works". TodayFM.com .
  10. ↑ "What to expect in the next 'What A Complete Aisling' book out this Autumn". SHEmazing!. 31 July 2021.
  11. 1 2 O'Donoghue, Anna (16 June 2017). "'Oh my God What a Complete Aisling' Facebook group is publishing a book". IrishExaminer.com .
  12. 1 2 3 Flynn, Tara. "Aisling is the decent, Dunnes-shopping heroine we need right now". The Irish Times .
  13. ↑ Manning, Sarra (16 November 2018). "Why Aisling from Ballygobbard is our new hero". RedOnline.co.uk .
  14. ↑ "What the Aisling books have told us about Ireland and ourselves". RTÉ.ie . 11 September 2023.
  15. ↑ Barry, Aoife (9 September 2017). "How the Facebook page Oh My God, What A Complete Aisling became a publishing phenomenon". TheJournal.ie .
  16. ↑ Buckley, Dan (27 November 2018). "Female authors dominate at an Post Irish Book Awards". IrishExaminer.com .
  17. ↑ "An Post Irish Book Awards 2019 winners revealed". The Irish Times .
  18. ↑ "The best of the best! Irish Book Awards 2021 winners revealed". IrishCentral.com. 29 November 2021.
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