One passage from the published work, then the craft underneath it.
From the Work
A Reading Path
Start Here
New to the work? Choose a door below, or begin with one of the three first books. There is no wrong first book, only a gentler one.
Choose a door
1970s Irish Catholic Boston. The Kirkus-starred book.
Give Them Unquiet DreamsFamily, water, thresholds, and the light that comes in sideways.
CrossingsAttention, ordinary objects, mercy, revision, and the reader.
The Philosophy of WritingGuides, teaching resources, and a working notebook.
GuidesNew to James Mulhern?
Three first books — one novel, the poems, and a story collection — each with a page to read and a place to buy.
A family novel of 1970s Irish Catholic Boston and Achill Island. If you read one book first, begin here.
About the book AmazonTwenty poems of family, water, and threshold. A full reading copy lives on the collection page.
Read the poems AmazonThe story collection. “Assumptions,” which opens it, is the story the essays on this site return to most.
About the book AmazonBegin with a novel
Give Them Unquiet Dreams is the Kirkus-starred novel and a Kirkus Best Book of 2019 — a story of 1970s Irish Catholic Boston and Achill Island. If you read one book first, begin here.
Molly Bonamici is the “Angel of Death” novel — the deadpan comedy that grew out of a single year of overwhelming loss.
A Prayer for Home is the novella where Molly Bonamici first speaks — a teenage Molly narrates the story of the widow next door and the storefront psychic.
Or start shorter
Assumptions and Other Stories is the short-story collection. “Assumptions,” the story that opens it, is the one the essays on this site return to most.
The poems
Crossings: Selected Poems is the poetry collection, published by Silver Current Press in 2026 — family, water, thresholds, and the light that comes in sideways. A full reading sampler lives on the collection page.
After the first book, go deeper
Essays — the criticism-and-craft essays, from close readings of single passages to full studies of the novels.
From the Work — a recurring series of short close readings: one strong passage per entry, then the craft and the belief doing the work underneath.
Recurring Images — the motifs that keep returning: thresholds, hands, water, light, fire.
Kindred Writers — the affinities readers notice, offered as observations rather than claims.