Welcome

Happy New Year to All My Readers!

Here’s hoping that 2023 will be a better year for the World and the Planet and that Peace, Justice, Care and Kindness will prevail across the Earth.

It is an exciting time for me as my new children’s book Fairy Hill is due to be published at the end of February 2023.

The story has been in my head and heart for the longest time and it was a joy to write about Anna who comes to stay with her Dad in Ireland. Upset at first Anna gradually comes to know and love the old house and the fields and lake, beach and woods. There are new friends and she learns to surf and to ride but Anna senses that she is being watched. As she begins to uncover the mysteries of Fairy Hill and its secrets Daniel, the mysterious boy she meets down by the lake, warns her that her little half- brother Jack may be in danger. Soon Anna is caught up in a desperate fight to find her brother and save him from a powerful and magical foe.

The story is inspired by one of my favourite poems The Stolen Child by W.B Yeats which I first read when I was about eleven or twelve and has stayed with me ever since.

Marita is one of Ireland’s best loved authors of both children’s and women’s fiction.
She is an international bestseller and her books are enjoyed by readers across the world.
Passionate about Irish history Marita’s first book Under the Hawthorn Tree is set during the Great Irish Famine. The book was inspired by the discovery of a famine grave of three children buried under a hawthorn tree. The book has become a classic and is used by schools both in Ireland and overseas and is part of the best-selling ‘The Children of the Famine’ series.
Marita’s first adult novel The Magdalen, explores the lives of the Magdalens-the women sent to live and work in Ireland’s Magdalen laundries and is a book that still touches readers and raises many issues.
She loves to meet readers and enjoys talking at book festivals, libraries and schools where she encourages everyone to read and to write.
She has a huge interest in the Great Irish Famine and there is a special section on this website all about the Famine.
Marita lives in Dublin and is married to James and has four grown-up children.