"Alison Gill stands on the cusp of middle age, assailed by doubts about her marriage and insecurities about her changing body. Her expectations of life have dwindled until they are all contained in the five-day break the family spends each year at Fitzgerald's Hotel in Wexford. When her husband is recalled suddenly to Dublin, Alison's longed-for holiday seems doomed, but the reappearance of old flame Chris Conway appears to offer possibilities. Whether Alison can or will offer Conway the succour he needs is revealed in a beautifully understated novel whose portrait of a self-doubting woman is handled with rare and sensitive perspicacity."DAILY MAIL "It is rare that a man should be so adept and insightful at identifying the preoccupations of a mature woman and mother-of-three, but Bolger does just that in this tender, thoughtful novel."HARPERS & QUEEN "Dermot Bolger's new novel manages to take the well-known elements of a mid-life crisis" narrative and give them an added twist. 'Temptation' is not simply a wistful story of "what might have been", rather it is a focused and insightful meditation on the nature of the self in relation to others. An intimate story… the emotions real, Bolger skilfully weaves the story of the past through the events of the present."IRISH TIMES

‘An addictive read – a will-they-won’t-they adultery tale, told fast and furiously. More than confirms his reputation as a master storyteller.’ Sunday Express ‘A beautifully understated novel whose portrait of a self-doubting woman is handled with rare and sensitive perspicacity.’ Daily Mail ‘Bolger is a master storyteller…Temptation surely establishes him as one of the major Irish novelists of the past quarter century.’ Irish Post

• A radio play version is to be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in the afternoon on 20 June 2003 • Here, for the first time from Bolger, is a book primarily for the female market. • Bolger is adorable, professional and universally loved and admired. No-one has worked harder in the 1990s to improve the fortunes of Irish writing in general and younger writers in particular. • Dermot conceived and orchestrated the hugely successful pair of multi-authorFinbar’s Hotel novels (no 1 bestsellers in Ireland) Competition: Lying In Wait; The Gustav Sonata; This Must Be The Place; Holding. Marian Keyes;Liz Nugent; Rose Tremain; Maggie O'Farrell; Graham Norton;