A stunning lyrical novel from the Number one bestselling author Donal Ryan about love, loss, hope and connection.

2019. Small town rural Island. 21 voices.

A standalone novel that can also be read as a companion to Donal Ryan’s multi-award-winning bestseller, The Spinning Heart, voted ‘The Irish Book of the Decade’

‘I said it before. Madness comes circling around. Ten-year cycles, as true as the sun will rise…’

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Some things can send a heart spinning; others will crack it in two.

In a small town in rural Ireland, the local people have weathered the storms of economic collapse and are looking towards the future. The jobs are back, the dramas of the past seemingly lulled, and although the town bears the marks of its history, new stories are unfolding.

But a fresh menace is creeping around the lakeshore and the lanes of the town, and the peace of the community is about to be shattered in an unimaginable way. Young people are being drawn towards the promise of fast money whilst the generation above them tries to push back the tide of an enemy no one can touch…

My Review

Because I didn’t read the first book, I didn’t know any of the characters. And there are a lot of them – 21 to be precise. So initially I was massively confused and I have to admit, overwhelmed by the bad language. I’m not a prude, but there is a limit. But then I have no experience or point of reference. I soon realised that these musings would be realistic. Gosh that makes me sound like such a snob.

However, as I read on, it all began to change. There was now real depth to Bobby, his wife Triona, best mate Seanie, is-she-a-witch Lily, her granddaughter Millicent etc that I didn’t expect. Lily was by far my favourite character. I felt so sad for her. Suddenly I became truly invested, and needed to find out what was going to happen.

Sadly, just as the town is starting to recover and get back to normal, there is a new evil emerging. It all revolves around drugs and the dealers who are destroying communities. Dealers like Augie, who has drawn Millicent into his depraved world. But she is too young and naive to see it. His treatment of her is unbelievable. Something has to be done. But are vigilantes ever justified?

The ending was a real shock, even more so as I was certain it would be someone else. And Triona’s last chapter had me in tears. A wonderful book.

Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours

About the Author

Donal Ryan is an award-winning author from Nenagh, County Tipperary, whose work has been published in over twenty languages to major critical acclaim. The Spinning Heart won the Guardian First Book Award, the EU Prize for Literature (Ireland), and Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards; it was shortlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the Desmond Elliott Prize, and was voted ‘Irish Book of the Decade’. His fourth novel, From a Low and Quiet Sea, was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award 2018, and won the Jean Monnet Prize for European Literature. His novel, Strange Flowers, was voted Novel of the Year at the Irish Book Awards, and was a number one bestseller, as was his most recent novel The Queen of Dirt Island, which was also shortlisted for Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards. Donal lectures in Creative Writing at the University of Limerick. He lives with his wife Anne Marie and their two children just outside Limerick City.