Those that have read A Girl is a Half-formed Thing will know why I've posted this photo. And this one:

This lake is in Castlebar, Eimear McBride's hometown. I'm pretty sure I'm her first literary pilgrim. Hopefully the first of many. There's even a hotel handily near to the lake. And if you get there soon, you may be able to pick up a signed copy of the book from The Castle bookshop.

Last Thursday, the window looked like this:

I'm happy to say that most of those copies have since been bought. Eimear's launch was triumphant. It wasn't just that so many people turned up, and so many bought copies, it was the recognition that this is a special book. I'm hoping to be able to put the speech Dr Jarlath Kileen of Trinity College made onto the site at a later date. For now, I can just say it was one of the most eloquent endorsements of a piece of literature I've heard: explaining exactly why the voice in the book is so effective, the euphoria (and pain) of reading it, and also what a good evocation it is of the west of Ireland in the 1980s. There was no arguing with anything he said. (And I should know. A couple of nights earlier in Dublin I tried to argue with Jarlath about DH Lawrence. I lost.)

A couple of nights before visiting Castlebar, Eimear also did a launch in Hodges Figgis in Dublin. That's right! A huge shop, right in the middle of the capital city. Seeing this made me very happy:

There was a good turn out on one of the hottest day's the city has seen for years, and there was another wonderfully fluent and convincing speech about the strength and sustained power of Eimear's voice, this time from a complete stranger. He also told everyone to buy four copies. One to read, carry around, read again, wear and batter. One to keep in pristeen condition forever. Two to press on the people you'll feel compelled to share it with, when you finish reading… Naturally, I was very keen to shake his hand afterwards. I'm also very keen on everyone in Hodges Figgis. Their support for a debut novelist from our tiny press has been incredible - and it's fantastic to have met so many people there who clearly love books. Net result:

In your face, Testament of Mary! If you're lucky enough to be in our near Dublin, there should still be a few signed copies available to buy there.

In the meantime, we've got another launch for Eimear on the way on Thursday at the LRB bookshop. And then, something approaching normal service on the website after this wonderfully busy, very happy time. One quick dash of sentimentality, while I'm feeling so exuberant: publishing A Girl is a Half-formed Thing, not to mention all the titles in the Singles Club, The White Goddess: An Encounter, My Elvis Blackout and our next release, Everlasting Lane, has made us all very proud. Broke. But proud.