Debut Voices: Kathleen Donohoe

Tuesday, April 18 | 7:30 PM

“A tale of New York that transcends New York, Kathleen Donohoe’s Ashes of Fiery Weather is a riveting, finely crafted combination of gritty realism and graceful, poignant prose. With insight, compassion, and unblinking honesty, she gives us the extraordinary lives of ordinary people.” —author Peter Quinn

“An entrancing story … Admirers of Pete Hamill and Kate Atkinson will appreciate this gripping and intimate novel.” —Library Journal

Join our Book Club!

Our fourth season of Debut Voices kicks off with Kathleen Donohoe reading from Ashes of Fiery Weather, followed by a conversation moderated by Ann Leary.

Poignant, wise, and immersive, Donohoe’s debut is an intimate portrayal of an Irish-American community of New York City firefighters through the stories of four generations of women, spanning from after the famine years in Ireland through to the devastation of 9/11.

Kathleen Donohoe was raised in Brooklyn in a family of Irish-American firefighters. She has published short stories in several literary magazines and currently serves on the Board of Irish American Writers & Artists. This is her first novel.

Previous Debut Voices authors include Eimear McBride, author of A Girl Is A Half-formed Thing; Colin Barrett, author of Young Skins; Sara Baume, author of Spill Simmer Falter Wither; Johanna Lane, author of Black Lake; and Darragh McKeon, author of All That Is Solid Melts Into Air.