The Three Wise Men — Martina Devlin

A warm, witty and wise novel about love, friendship and being in your thirties.

Gloria, Eimear and Kate have been friends since they were a trio of six-year-olds cast as the Three Wise Men in the nativity play.

Twenty-five years on, they've left Omagh for Dublin and grown up to be Three Unwise Women, all too prone to misuse the gifts they've been given. Eimear's beauty captivates men but robs her of independence. Kate's dazzling wit blinds her to the consequences of betraying a friend. And Gloria's urge to nurture, thwarted by infertility, threatens to destroy everything she holds dear.

Aided and abetted in their misdeeds by the irresistible Jack, philandering poet and seducer extraordinaire, the troika find themselves putting their friendship to a test from which it may never recover.

To this black comedy Martina Devlin brings a delightful lightness of touch, a turn of phrase to treasure, and three characters to take to your heart.

Reviews

‘A real, believable, compelling read. This is my Ireland, these are the women I know. Martina Devlin draws friendship and love, with its attendant comfort and pains, with unflinching honesty. And into the bargain, it's funny!… I'm in awe.'
Marian Keyes

About the author

Martina Devlin was born in Omagh, Co Tyrone, in 1961. She moved to Dublin after seven years in London as a journalist with the Press Association. She now writes for the Irish Independent. The Three Wise Men is her first novel.