We're delighted to welcome novelist Sarah Gilmartin to Rare Birds to discuss her new novel Little Vanities. 

Sarah is the author of Service and Dinner Party which are both best-sellers in store so we can't wait to sit down and chat about Little Vanities.

Tickets are £5 and can be redeemed against any purchase on the evening of the event. 

Timings

• Doors open from: 6:30pm
• Talk begins: 7:00pm 

About the book

Dylan, Stevie and Ben have been inseparable since their days at Trinity, when everything seemed possible. A glance between them can still conjure their younger selves: dancing beneath pulsing lights, the sharp taste of salt after swims in Dublin Bay. Two decades on, life feels smaller.

Dylan, once a rugby star, is stranded on the sofa, cared for by his wife Rachel. Across town, Stevie and Ben's relationship has settled into weary routine. Then, after countless auditions, Ben lands a role in Pinter's Betrayal.

As rehearsals unfold, the play's shifting allegiances seep into reality, reviving old jealousies and awakening sudden longings, as each must reckon with how far they're willing to go in pursuit of desire. Wry, sexy and deftly observed, Little Vanities is a novel about the dangerous thrill of stepping outside the roles we've been given - and the distance between the lives we imagine and the ones we live.

About the author 

Sarah Gilmartin is an Irish writer and arts journalist. Her bestselling debut novel Dinner Party (One, 2021) was shortlisted for an Irish Book Award and the Kate O’Brien Award. Her second novel Service (One, 2023) was a Washington Post top books of summer and included in the Irish Times list of the best Irish fiction of the 21st century (2025). She is the current Arts Council Writer-in-Residence at Dublin City University. 

If you have any questions regarding the event or to request additional accessibility accommodations please contact hello@rarebirdsbooks.com