Pre-order

An Arrow in Flight

Already purchased

Click to open directly in the xigxag app.

Standard price shown. Sign in for personalised pricing.

Send as a gift Get in the xigxag app

Added to cart

Continue shopping or head to checkout

View cart
How does xigxag pricing work?

Listen to a sample

What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

Mary Lavin is the great unsung voice of Irish fiction. Here are her very best, most electric stories: illuminating, moving, arrows in flight.

SELECTED AND INTRODUCED BY COLM TÓIBÍN

Mary Lavin’s stories feature ordinary people in the tight confines of ordinary life. From rural Ireland and the streets of Dublin they charm, irritate and intrigue in complicated brilliance, appearing to us with unique freshness. Good friendships, bad deeds, frustrations, missteps, hope and laughter are all found in captivating stories where real and astonishing things happen.

Few women were so consistently published in the New Yorker and yet today Lavin’s work is largely unpublished and overlooked. This collection re-establishes her as one of the most genius, irresistible and memorable voices of the last century.

SELECTED AND INTRODUCED BY COLM TOÍBÍN

‘She is, to come right out with it, magnificent’ New York Times

‘Mary Lavin’s stories are a delight. They are delicate, but not too delicate to carry tragedy on one shoulder and comedy on the other’ Sunday Times

‘Lavin writes like a dream’ New York Times Book Review

© Mary Lavin 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026

Critics Review

Mary Lavin’s stories are patient, knowing, richly discriminating and wonderfully memorable. They're important work
Richard Ford
She is, to come right out with it, magnificent
New York Times
She reminds us…what literature is about
Anthony Burgess
Mary Lavin’s stories are a delight. They are delicate, but not too delicate to carry tragedy on one shoulder and comedy on the other
Sunday Times
She fascinates me more than any other of the Irish writers of my generation
Frank O’Connor
Mary Lavin is keeping the stronghold of the Irish story in first-rate repair
Spectator
Mary Lavin's prose has the simplicity and glow of time-polished wood
Sunday Times
Caustic and also lyrical, she sees Ireland, even in its most obscure aspects, with a visionary penetration
Seamus Deane
[Lavin] writes like a dream
New York Times Book Review
These sombre and skilfully written stories describe the tragic dilemmas with which character and nature confront humans everywhere
Washington Post

More from the same

Narrator

About xigxag

Experience the best audiobooks with xigxag, an innovative and user-friendly audiobook platform designed for seamless discovery, purchase, and enjoyment of your favorite titles. Our flexible pricing model offers bestselling audiobooks for less, providing affordable prices and the best audiobook deals without requiring a subscription. Perfect for gifting, xigxag also features convenient audiobook gift cards and in-app audiobook gifting options.

 

Beyond the listening experience, xigxag stands as an exciting alternative to big tech, embodying a strong commitment to sustainability and ethical practices. As the only B Corp certified UK audiobook service, we ensure a guilt-free listening experience from a leader in audiobook innovation.

 

Effortlessly search audiobooks, access honest audiobook reviews that evaluate both the content and narration, and easily discover hidden gems. Whether you prefer to download or stream top audiobook titles, xigxag provides the best possible listening experience anytime, anywhere, on the UK’s best independent audiobook app. Discover the future of audiobooks today.