UCD professor Katherine O'Donnell shares with Hot Press readers an exclusive reading of her extraordinary new book SLANT as shortlisted by Hot Press readers in our Hotties 2024 poll.

The professor's debut novel, SLANT, is the coming-of-age story of one gay Irishwoman at the height of the AIDS crisis, from her emigration to Boston her campaigning for marriage equality in 2015.

The story follows Ro McCarthy, single in her fifties and working a quiet job. Ro is sustained by her love of books and her deep friendships. Although she still doesn’t approve of marriage – not even for the straights – she is canvassing for yes in the 2015 marriage equality referendum

Thirty years earlier, Ro is a young Cork woman living her best life in Boston, undocumented and working multiple jobs, making life-long friends, and falling in love with Jenny.

Soon, however, the young gay men who have become Ro’s new family – from Ireland and elsewhere – begin to die. Shocked and grieving, she finds purpose in AIDS activism and a community that is loving and living against all odds.

A heartbreaking and life affirming tale all in one, O'Donnell's debut novel is a powerful story.

Watch Katherine O'Donnell's 'My Reading of It' of SLANT  below: