His seventh novel follows the lives of four generations of the Aylwards, a family of strong Irish women whose men have either died or absconded. Ryan won the Guardian first book award in 2013 for The Spinning Heart, set in rural Ireland after the collapse of the Celtic Tiger.
Between those events lies a coming-of-age story that explores the challenges of growing up in a tight rural community in 1980s Ireland, and the broader landscape of prejudice, misogyny and family conflict. It begins with an ending – the abrupt loss of a character we have only just met – yet concludes with a hope for the people he left behind.
D onal Ryan’s latest novel is a book of opposing forces.
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