The Spinning Heart
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Transworld Publishers Ltd
Published:25th Apr '19
Should be back in stock very soon
This stunning debut has won major acclaim, winning the Guardian First Book Award and Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards ; it was shortlisted for the Dublin IMPAC Literary Award and longlisted for the Man Booker Prize.
THE STUNNING FIRST NOVEL BY THE AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF HEART BE AT PEACE AND STRANGE FLOWERS
- Winner of the Guardian First Book Award
- Shortlisted for the Dublin IMPAC Literary Award
- Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize
- Winner of Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards
- Winner of the European Prize for Literature
- Voted Irish Book of the Decade in 2016
“My father still lives back the road past the weir in the cottage I was reared in. I go there every day to see is he dead and every day he lets me down. He hasn’t yet missed a day of letting me down.”
Now winner of six Irish Book Awards and a No.1 bestselling author, Donal Ryan exploded on to the literary scene with his stunning debut, set in the aftermath of Ireland’s financial collapse. When dangerous tensions surface in a small Irish town, the characters face a battle between their public persona and inner desires. Told through a chorus of twenty-one unique voices, each struggling to tell their own kind of truth, a single authentic tale unfolds.
The Spinning Heart speaks for contemporary Ireland like no other novel. Wry, vulnerable, all-too human, it captures the language and spirit of rural Ireland and, with uncanny perception, articulates the words and thoughts of a generation.
DISCOVER DONAL RYAN'S NEW NOVEL, HEART BE AT PEACE, WINNER OF THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR FICTION AND IRISH BOOK OF THE YEAR
****
'Filled with light and shade, love and tragedy ... if it was a song you could sing it' ANNE ENRIGHT
'Donal Ryan is the real deal ... a brilliantly realised, utterly resonant state-of-the-nation landscape' SUNDAY INDEPENDENT
'I can't imagine a more original, more perceptive or more passionate work than this. Outstanding' JOHN BOYNE
'It's furious, it's moving, it's darkly funny, it punches you right in the gut' NEW YORK TIMES
'Funny, moving and beautifully written' EDNA O'BRIEN
'The unambiguous announcement of a genuine and apparently fully-formed new talent' FINANCIAL TIMES
There’s a powerful sense of place and shared history binding Ryan’s many voices, their inner and outer selves, distilling a linguistic richness comparable to Under Milk Wood. . . . the testimony of his characters rings rich and true – funny and poignant and banal and extraordinary – and we can’t help but listen. * The Guardian *
[A] beguiling debut. … This may be the work of a debut novelist, but it is one who reads plenty and knows his business. … His salty, damaged characters give voice to the anger and heartache of a town snared by Ireland’s collapse. For this, we are in his debt. * The Sunday Times *
Donal Ryan’s prism of life and lives is compellingly humane. … This is an exciting, relevant and believable contemporary novel about the lost and the wounded that listens to the present without discarding either the sins of the fathers or the literary legacy of the past. * The Irish Times *
Funny, moving and beautifully written
Donal Ryan is the real deal … A brilliantly realised, utterly resonant state-of-the-nation landscape * Sunday Independent *
Filled with light and shade, love and tragedy ... if it was a song you could sing it
A formidable debut, with snatches of the savage comedy of Patrick McCabe and a wistful cadence all its own. * Daily Telegraph *
Powerful and affecting . . . [a] superb, unforgettable and topical debut. * The Times *
Funny, moving, technically inventive … Structurally the novel gestures to William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying, while Ryan’s sensitive observations on Irish life seem responsive to the work of his compatriot Patrick McCabe. That Ryan does not look out of place in such literary company is a measure of his achievement. * Financial Times *
I was hugely impressed by The Spinning Heart. There will be many novels which explore the effect of the crash on the people of Ireland but I can't imagine a more original, more perceptive or more passionate work than this. Outstanding.
- Winner of Bord G is Energy Irish Book Awards - Book of the Year 2012 (Ireland)
- Winner of Bord G is Energy Irish Book Awards - Newcomer of the Year 2012 (UK)
- Winner of Guardian First Book Award 2013 (Ireland)
- Long-listed for Man Booker Prize for Fiction 2013 (UK)
ISBN: 9781784165000
Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 11mm
Weight: 119g
160 pages