Niamh Mulvey’s debut novel excellently captures the vulnerability of youth and the lingering impact of Catholicism in Ireland. It moves seamlessly between the past few decades in Ireland, highlighting the different ways in which our country has failed women over time. Mulvey handles her characters with empathy and complexity, and unfailingly manages to create insightful and thought-provoking themes through them, weaving the unsettling history of Ireland with individual lives. The novel paints a tapestry of cultural and political change in Ireland, and the impact this has on society and people’s identities. Mulvey has seamlessly created a must-read novel, which is endlessly informative and tirelessly compassionate.

Factfulness perseveres as a hopeful book, and as essential reading for anyone hoping to develop a clear framework with which to see the world. Rosling offers a practical guide to overcoming our initial biases, while detailing his own journey in shedding ignorance. He does so in an accessible and enjoyable way, and encourages readers to think critically, but positively. He unfailingly manages to remind us that though there is progress to be made, we should take solace in how far we have come, and to strive to improve. As his last work, written with his family, this book serves as an enduring and impactful legacy.