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]

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]

  • Oh My God, What a Complete Aisling The Novel (August 2017) 0-717-17980-X
  • The Importance of Being Aisling (September 2018) 0-717-18160-X
  • Once, Twice, Three Times and Aisling (September 2019) 0-717-18793-4
  • Aisling and the City (October 2021) 0-717-19412-4
  • Aisling Ever After (August 2023) 1-804-58036-8

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]

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. ^ a b Flood, Alison (8 December 2017). "Six-figure deal for 'Irish Bridget Jones' series". The Guardian.
  4. ^ a b "oh my god what a complete Aisling facebook group". Facebook.com.
  5. ^ a b "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. ^ a b O'Donoghue, Anna (16 June 2017). "'Oh my God What a Complete Aisling' Facebook group is publishing a book". IrishExaminer.com.
  12. ^ a b c 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. ^ Ní Choincheannain, Síle (11 September 2023). "What the Aisling books have told us about Ireland and ourselves". RTÉ.ie.
  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. ^ Doyle, Martin (20 November 2019). "An Post Irish Book Awards 2019 winners revealed". The Irish Times.
  18. ^ Meek, Andrea M. (29 November 2021). "The best of the best! Irish Book Awards 2021 winners revealed". IrishCentral.com.
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