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← Roddy Doyle
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Roddy Doyle reading flowchart
Every Roddy Doyle book in reading order by series, with the characters in each book, first appearances and crossovers.
READING FLOWCHART
Roddy Doyle
Read down each column. Every card lists the characters in that book, marks first appearances and crossovers, and says where it is set.
Titles and names link to their pages on the site.
THE BARRYTOWN NOVELS
4 books
PAULA SPENCER
2 books
THE LAST ROUNDUP
3 books
NOVELS
3 books
The Commitments
'87
L
Jimmy Rabbitte
NEW
·
Jimmy Rabbitte Sr
NEW
WHERE
Barrytown (fictional)…
CHARACTERS
2 (1 main)
The Commitments (1987): Jimmy Rabbitte sets out to bring soul music to Dublin’s northside by forming a band, The Commitments.
The Snapper
'90
L
Jimmy Rabbitte Sr
L
Sharon Rabbitte
NEW
·
Jimmy Rabbitte
WHERE
Barrytown (fictional)…
CHARACTERS
3 (2 main)
The Snapper (1990): Sharon Rabbitte, twenty, is pregnant and will not say who the father is, to the delight of the neighbours and the confusion of her dad.
The Van
'91
L
Jimmy Rabbitte Sr
·
Jimmy Rabbitte
WHERE
Barrytown (fictional)…
CHARACTERS
2 (1 main)
The Van (1991): Jimmy Rabbitte Sr, out of work, goes into business with his best friend selling fish and chips from a van during the 1990 World Cup.
The Guts
'13
L
Jimmy Rabbitte
M
Jimmy Rabbitte Sr
WHERE
Barrytown (fictional)…
CHARACTERS
2 (2 main)
The Guts (2013): Jimmy Rabbitte, now forty-seven, learns he has bowel cancer, and finds his way back to music and to old friends.
The Woman Who Walked into…
'96
L
Paula Spencer
NEW
WHERE
Dublin
CHARACTERS
1 (1 main)
The Woman Who Walked into Doors (1996): Paula Spencer, a cleaner and recovering alcoholic, tells the story of her violent marriage.
Paula Spencer
'06
L
Paula Spencer
WHERE
Dublin
CHARACTERS
1 (1 main)
Paula Spencer (2006): Ten years after The Woman Who Walked into Doors, Paula Spencer is sober and working as a cleaner, trying to rebuild her life and her family.
A Star Called Henry
'99
L
Henry Smart
NEW
WHERE
Dublin
CHARACTERS
1 (1 main)
A Star Called Henry (1999): Henry Smart, born in the Dublin slums in 1901, fights in the Easter Rising and the War of Independence.
Oh, Play That Thing
'04
L
Henry Smart
WHERE
New York and Chicago
CHARACTERS
1 (1 main)
Oh, Play That Thing (2004): Henry Smart flees to America in the 1920s and finds himself in New York and Chicago, in the world of jazz, bootlegging and Louis Armstrong.
The Dead Republic
'10
L
Henry Smart
WHERE
Dublin
CHARACTERS
1 (1 main)
The Dead Republic (2010): Henry Smart returns to Ireland with the film director John Ford, and is drawn back into the country’s politics over the decades that follow.
Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
'93
L
Paddy Clarke
NEW
WHERE
Dublin
CHARACTERS
1 (1 main)
Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha (1993): Ten-year-old Paddy Clarke runs wild with his gang in 1968 Barrytown while his parents’ marriage falls apart.
Smile
'17
L
Victor Forde
NEW
WHERE
Dublin
CHARACTERS
1 (1 main)
Smile (2017): Victor Forde, newly separated, moves back to the area he grew up in, and meets a man in the pub who claims to have known him at school.
Love
'20
No recurring characters charted
WHERE
Dublin
CHARACTERS
0 (0 main)
Love (2020): Over one long night in Dublin’s pubs, two old friends, Joe and Davy, talk, and Joe reveals he has left his wife for a woman they both knew years ago.
L
Lead
M
Major
·
Minor or cameo
NEW
First appearance
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