Standing in a Hammock

Published 2002, Poolbeg, Dublin

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Ashbury, middle-class suburbia, where curtains and blinds thinly veil the passions and heartaches that lie within. At number 2 - The husband's waistbands' expanding, but the wife wears the trousers. At number 5 - There's an earth mother staying in, but a siren bursting to come out. At number 7 - She's gorgeous, she's sexy and she wears kitten heels. So why is she home alone? At number 8 - The silence is deafening. The curtains are drawn…again.

Over the space of a single weekend, the lives of five of its residents are thrown off balance as they learn about each other and the secrets they hold.

'Written with superb comic and insightful genius'  Sunday World

Standing in a Hammock leads the reader into a wed of deceit, intrigue and passion.' Sunday Mirror

'This book is about ordinary lives and how extraordinary they can be.' Irish Examiner

Author's note: The conversation in the opening chapter is a word-for-word argument my husband and I had over what exactly 'something nice for a cup of tea' actually was. (What is it the marriage counsellors say - don't sweat over the small stuff?)

Beetle Mania

Published 2003. Poolbeg, Dublin
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Over the last five years the Farrell sisters have only really got together for births, marriages and deaths. Now they have come to a decision and they really need one another.

For twenty years he has been more than just one of the family but now Merlin is heading for the scrapyard. Every rusting piece of metal has absorbed the joy, passion and heartache of the dramatic lives of Kitty, Emer and Heather. The backseat has seen lust, the bonnet deception and the wipers have hidden tears.

As their stories unfold, we are drawn into a web of misunderstanding. The trust has long since been twisted and the constant figure who has seen it all, is about to be discarded. Is it too late to salvage the truth?

'Written with the same wit and simplicity that made her first novel such a roaring success.' Belfast Telegraph

'Clamp manages to infuse all her characters with a sense of warmth and personality.' Dublin Daily

Author's note: Merlin in the book is based on my real life 36-year-old VW Beetle. Every now and then I curse and scream at him and tell him he's not much use. But at the same time as I'm threatening him with the scrap-yard, I can't help but think he's the same age as myself and I'm not much use either. I hope no one's planning to swap me for a newer model!