This week Joseph O'Connor's acclaimed novel GHOST LIGHT is back in the Irish sales charts at no 2 and has been shortlisted for the second Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction.

The winner of the Walter Scott Prize, sponsored by the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch, will receive £25,000 and the awards ceremony will take place on the 18th of June as part of the Borders Book Festival at Melrose. GHOST LIGHT is shortlisted alongside Andrea Levy's THE LONG SONG and C by Tom McCarthy.

Today starts the month long GHOST LIGHT 'One City, One Book' project in Dublin. This promotes reading by encouraging everyone in the city to read the same book. 2011 is the sixth year of Dublin's 'One City, One Book' project, and as part of this year's celebration, the City Council and Library services have arranged numerous activities including readings by the author and performances of Synge's plays in the Abbey Theatre.

GHOST LIGHT is published by Harvill Secker and Vintage in the UK and Farrar, Straus and Giroux in the US. It has also been sold to Record (Brazil), VL Publishers (Bulgaria), Fraktura (Croatia), Phebus (France), Fischer (Germany), Ambo|Anthos (Holland), Guanda (Italy), Zvaigzne (Latvia), Dom Quixote (Portugal), Salamandra (Spain) and Norstedts (Sweden).

Praise for GHOST LIGHT:

'GHOST LIGHT is O'Connor's vivid and sometimes visionary reimagining of the love affair between Molly Allgood and the Irish dramatist John Millington Synge ... In GHOST LIGHT, O'Connor allows himself to ride the wave of Irish eloquence.' -- New York Times Book Review

'Joseph O'Connor's GHOST LIGHT is absolutely brilliant - a beautifully written love story.' -- Roddy Doyle, The Guardian, Books of the Year 2010

'GHOST LIGHT displays an astonishing command of voice, using tones that are both tender and powerfully emotional, with brilliant command of the period.' -- Colm Tóibín, Daily Telegraph, Books of the Year 2010