Proverbs are like people - they can be humorous, sad, old, young, even have their own offspring. But they can also tell us a great deal about the time, the place and the culture that created them.

Two boys set fires while their worlds fall apart. A couple drive out to the hills in a last-ditch effort to save their marriage. A horse crashes a house party. Set on an imagined island off the west coast of Ireland, John Patrick McHugh's Pure Gold heralds the arrival of a vibrant new literary voice.

A Quiet Tide is a life examined, a heart-breaking, inspiring story that at last captures the essence and humanity of a long-forgotten Irishwoman.

Spider is an easygoing pub-quiz expert. Life has been tough for him, and it's about to get much worse. When his girlfriend Gillian announces that she's pregnant, he knows that he wants to marry her. But her overprotective father and martial-artist brothers have other ideas.

The McHugh's marriage is on the rocks. Ciara McHugh is worried that her mum and dad are going to divorce, and she is worried about school and a nasty boy who pesters her. One awful night everything changes.

Published for the first time in the Irish language, previous Open Door stories by literary superstars Roddy Doyle, Marian Keyes, John Connolly, Deirdre Purcell, Julie Parsons, Vincent Banville, Maeve Binchy and Patricia Scanlan have now been released in a special edition - as Gaeilge!