Landing
Landing (New York : Harcourt, 2007). A contemporary love story about emigration, Landing – my fifth novel - is set in boomtown Ireland and smalltown Canada. In 2008 the Golden Crown Literary Society gave it an award in the Lesbian Dramatic General Fiction category. An unabridged audiobook of Landing, narrated by Laura Hicks, is published by BBC Audiobooks America and can be downloaded from audible.com: http://www.audible.com/adbl/site/products/ProductDetail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&productID=BK_BBCA_000037
A personal note: Landing was known, until the brink of publication, as Time-Zone Tango, a phrase to describe long-distance relationships that still gives me a kick. The novel was inspired by my own experience of commuting between Canada, England and Ireland for a few years before making the move to Canada. Landing was extremely hard to write, I think because of the need to wrestle autobiographical material into dramatic shape, and difficult to publish, I suspect because it is – on the whole – an upbeat romance.
To buy Landing:
US: http://hmhbooks.com/hmh/site/hmhbooks/bookdetails?isbn=9780156033787
UK/Ireland:
Translations
Landen (Utrecht: LaVita, 2009)
Tocando Tierra (Barcelona-Madrid: Egales, 2010)
Forthcoming in French and German.
Reviews
‘Explores with a light, sure touch the subject of desire across distances of various kinds: generational, cultural, even spiritual. Donoghue handles the complexities of the women’s relationship with ease… [an] entertaining journey into what Jude calls “the intersection of love and geography.’ – New York Times Book Review
‘Lesbian romance goes mainstream in this charming tale… nervous and sexy and funny in the best romantic-comedy tradition… razor-sharp prose, full-bodied portraits of all the secondary characters and shrewd observations about everything… warmhearted, readable and entertaining.’ – Kirkus
‘Donoghue’s sprightly novel is a comedy of manners, a romantic romp with a teasing twist. Like much of the talented writer’s fiction, the book is clever, well populated with eccentric characters and full of surprises… Donoghue’s smart, sexy, wryly observed novel succeeds in catching the tenor of the times.’ – London Free Press
‘Emma Donoghue’s wit serves her well… a delight to read… manages to convey the strangeness, as well as the familiarity, of both Canada and Ireland, when viewed through lover’s eyes. How moving her two lovers are, in every sense.’ – Toronto Star
Bibliography
‘”If Love’s a Country”: Transnational Feminism in Emma Donoghue’s Landing,’ Moira Casey, paper delivered at American Conference on Irish Studies (2009).
‘Technological Entanglements: Emma Donoghue’s Landing,’ Stacia Bensyl, paper delivered at ACIS Midwestern (2009).
‘Geopolitical and Gender Border Crossings in Emma Donoghue’s Landing,’ Libe García Zarranz (University of Alberta), Queering Ireland Conference (Halifax, 2009).
‘In Flight Moves’, Sylvia Brownrigg, New York Times, 22 July 2007
