I love Donal Ryan to bits and this is his best book yet. Hard to believe it's 12 years since The Spinning Heart was published. This is even more brilliant and beautiful.

I have read a couple of Donal Ryan’s books but this is, by far, my favourite. Telling the story of the local people and how they intermingled with each other, while not a new idea, was written very cleverly. I would have liked to have read more about the women in the book, it was mainly based around the male characters, but I thought it was so well written I could have read a longer version.

This is definitely going to be a hit upon release.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC.

‘Heart Be at Peace’ is the follow up/companion book to Donal Ryan’s extraordinarily impressive debut ‘The Spinning Heart’ - the tale of a fractured community in shock, told by 21 different voices after the local building firm that was previously at the heart of the area’s prosperity collapsed.
This new book can be read as a stand alone novel but it definitely helps to have read ‘The Spinning Heart’ and know something of the background of these same 21 voices a decade later.
Whereas the previous book dealt with the fall out from recession, this one deals with the effect on the community when drug dealers take over and the authorities seem powerless to stop them.
Each character, and readers will have their own favourite, feels distinct and genuine, their reflections, both funny and heartbreaking, ring true. The writing is beautiful and lyrical, then can change in an instant to brutal.
The ending is both clever and dramatic, a testament to Donal Ryan’s impressive talent as a writer and I would be disappointed if this book isn’t nominated for the Booker Prize.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK for an ARC

As usual Donal Ryan gets to the heart of communities.
He always tells a cracking story and this is no exception.
I loved it.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A spellbinding narrative that pulls shimmering threads out of the air to weave a microcosm exploring human fallibility. Literature in one of its best forms. Recommended!
With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

As with all of Donal Ryan's novels I have read, this swept me up and I devoured it in one sitting - he weaves a tapestry of characters and plot lines so brilliantly. I hadn't read The Spinning Heart, but of course will now, and then will probably re-read this. An easy 5* and one I will recommend to everyone.
Thank you #Netgalley for this ARC

A collection of characters, each with their own stories, that all weave in and out of each others lives, set in a small town

Unfortunately, this is the first book I have read by Donal Ryan, and it's a wrong that I need to right!
I'm glad to have discovered his writings and I greatly enjoyed hearing the voices of all the characters. Funny, moving, soul searching and beautifully written.
Plenty of Irish fiction seems to revolve around criminal activity... this is no exception, and although it's not a genre that I'm drawn towards, I will still be seeking out Donal Ryan's other works. Great stuff!

I loved this novel which tells the story of rural Irish life over a few months from the point of view of a large group of the areas inhabitants. The characters of these people are defined precisely and beautifully and feel like real people
The author has a beautiful poetic way of writing and the language lilts off the page in its beautiful Irishness
The novel had me in tears pretty near the start and on several occasions throughout the novel. The tears were off recognition and of empathy with the people that we meet.

The casual criminality of the population juxtaposed with the organised criminality of the drug dealers was noted throughout
There’s something timeless about the story take a few modern technologies out and it could’ve been written at any time in history
The author is an expert storyteller. I love the way the unexploded bomb took its place both at the start and the end of the story.

This novel reads like an Irish Shuggie Bain but by Douglas Stewart, if you like that British sure you like this same way you’re going to love this
I had forgotten that I had read one of the authors previous books from a low and quiet sea which was longlisted for the Booker prize in 2018 and didn’t enjoy it .After reading this book however and enjoying it so much I will definitely be putting some of his other books my to be read pile. He may be my new favourite author I would g be surprised if this one is nominated for A Booker prize
The book is published in the UK on the 15th of August 2024 by random house UK Transworld publishers.

As I started to read, I remembered The Spinning Heart, both in terms of character and the storytelling. I had found the first book hard to put together unless I read for long stretches and this book is similar. It is a 360 degree narrative approach. Once you are enmeshed amongst your cast, who are all reflected back against one another with nuance, it is hard to pause for breath.

Definitely not a book to read in snatches but with such a narrative, full immersion is perfect! Whilst I am sure this could be read as a standalone novel, I would question why you would want to. The characterisation, time, place, motivations, connections are key to the tightening web that the author weaves.

It may be set nearly a decade after its precursor but despite the many brilliant books coming from Ireland in the interim, the skilled writing captures a unique slant which progresses the plotting directly and indirectly. Assured ninja writing!

With thanks to #NetGalley and #RandomHouseUK for the opportunity to read and review

The author’s debut novel (actually the second he wrote but first to get a publishing contract) “The Spinning Heart” was Booker longlisted (one of two longlistings to date for the author), won the Guardian First Book Award and was also voted Irish Book of the Decade at the Dublin Book Festival.

It was a short (around 150) pages poly-voiced novel (21 characters each with their own close first party chapter) set in and around a small Irish country town in the aftermath of the financial crisis. A local man Pokey Burke – had much of the town working for him (off the books as they find when they go to claim benefits) in his building business only to abscond when his debts are called in. Whereas Pokey’s absence is a key to holding the book together, the other main character that holds many of the stories together by his presence)– he opening the book and his wife closing it – is Bobby Mahon Pokey’s much-respected foreman.

This book is set nine years later – the town has recovered from the economic crash – Bobby, correctly cleared of the death of his father (that murder and a child abduction added some – in my view – slightly unnecessary drama to the first book) has, in a continuation of what we saw starting to happen in that book, patiently rebuilt a building and contracting business (without the excessive borrowing and spending of Pokey) and given much of the town employment – only further building (pun intended) his own reputation.

Now though Pokey is back, seemingly with regrets although immediately involved in a dodgy college scheme. And Bobby, along with a number of others, is deeply troubled by the latest issue to hit the town, one more pernicious than the property bubble, a group of local drug dealers, seemingly immune from the law and part of a wider network. And whereas the first novel had the threat (at least in his head) that Bobby would commit violence on his verbally abusive father, here Bobby’s threat to commit violent retribution on the four dealers is more palpable.

The format is identical to the predecessor – the exact same 21 characters (one a ghost in both novels) with their chapters in the same order. As a result, and while the novel could be read either as stand alone or at some remove from “The Spinning Heart” my strong advice would be to read them back to back to remember the characters, their interactions and also to get a clearer view of their life journey and character development over the nine years.

And with its predecessor it shares the rather dramatic ending – although here some form of climax was I felt necessary to relive the tension that had built in the book and an explosive outcome was almost inevitable after some Chekhovian barrel bomb.

And this excellent book – and worth follow up – concludes, like its predecessor, with a moving chapter from the wisest character in both stories – Bobby’s wife Triona.

Recommended for the many fans of the earlier novel – and for those who have not read it I would recommend a back to back reading of them both.

Heart, Be at Peace returns to the setting of Ryan’s debut, A Spinning Heart, a decade after many in the town were devastated when the son of the local builder fled to Spain in the wake of the financial collapse which pulled the rug out from beneath its property boom. It follows the same structure, telling the story through twenty-one voices beginning with Bobby’s visits to his dying mother-in-law.
The town is dealing with a new scourge in the form of Augie Penrose's lucrative drug business. Pokey turns up, years after leaving so many in the financial lurch, spinning his father a yarn about a language school he’s setting up with a Maltese friend. As Augie’s Audi patrols the streets, Bobby becomes determined to do something about this menace to the town, far from the only one concerned at the damage being done.
As with his debut, Ryan unfolds his story through a large cast of interrelated narrators, none of whom appears twice. Bobby holds the moral compass of the novel. He’s a complex character, haunted by his father’s violent nature and afraid that it will manifest itself in him, yet loyal and capable of great love. There’s a reasonable helping of dark humour to be enjoyed, not least in the novel's resolution welcomed by Bobby’s wife Triona, unaware of its implications for the future. Ryan’s writing is characteristically striking and his plotting meticulous, carefully revealed through connections made between his characters but so many narrative voices meant that I was constantly on the lookout for those connections, not as immersed as I would have liked to be. It’s a virtuoso novel, for sure, but I preferred the more straightforward approach of The Queen of Dirt Island, hoping that the brief mention of Saoirse Aylward signalled her reappearance.

There is no doubt this is a well written book, and the concept is a very interesting one. I like the way the story is woven through the numerous characters, and that you gradually realise what is going on and how the people are connected and involved with one another, like threads being drawn together. However, some of the characters are more convincing than others. A few are a little two dimensional, especially as the voice of the author is understandably woven through each one, and some seem to sit more easily with him than others. Though each character has only a few pages to become known and their place in the story become clear, which would be a challenge in any scenario, and largely this is done brilliantly. The Irish colloquialisms tripped me up a few times, though I imagine someone who is more familiar with this would not find it so. The writing is quite poetic. Overall an interesting and unusual read. 3.5 stars

How does Donal Ryan keep on saying so much in so little space? His debut, The Spinning Heart, said more about the death of the Celtic Tiger and its impact on ordinary lives in 160 pages than some have managed in 500.

His latest novel is in many ways a follow-up to his first work and uses the same technique of direct-to-camera monologues from a wide cast.

Spare in execution and rich in effect, Ryan is the worthy heir to John McGahern.

Another amazing book by Donal Ryan. Told through the voices of various people from a small town in Ireland, the book builds in tension as the storyline traces a drug smuggling and dealing operation. What makes the book so brilliant is how Ryan manages to tell you so much about each character over the course of the book and how he also manages to capture the spirit of the village and its inhabitants so accurately and sympathetically.

Heart, Be at Peace is the new novel from Donal Ryan, and is a companion piece to his 2012 debut The Spinning Heart. I remember reading that novel and being blown away that with such a simple structure - each chapter from the point of view of a character - he was able to build such an emotional powerhouse, societal critique, and take down of the Celtic Tiger. To return to this world in 2024 has been another step into the beautifully rendered Ireland of today.

Like The Spinning Heart, each chapter here is from the point of view of a different character, and threads and themes resonate across them all to build its whole picture. There is no need to have read that first work, though your experience is enriched if you have. The writing, as one would expect from Ryan, is absolutely first class. He manages to build distinct, rounded human characters with such brevity; these are people that leap off the page, whose loves and lives you feel you have wandered into and are intimately privy to. Each reader will have their favourite character or characters here, and some stories will work better for some than others, but that is the delight of a polyphonic, social novel such as this.

It was an absolute pleasure and honour to read this beautiful novel in an ARC, for which I thank the publishers and Netgalley. This is sure to be one of the literary highlights of 2024.

This really well written. It has chapters where a character tells a story and these stories overlap. I was more interested in some stories than others.

Truth to tell I found it difficult to keep hold of what was going on and who was who.

I have previously enjoyed reading this author so guess it might be me with this one.

Sometimes I feel its enough to say "it's the new Ryan book" as justification for my review.
If you've read him before, you'd understand.

This one is a companion piece tother Spinning Heart , which I have not read, and it made no difference.
Of course now I'll have to read it.
Characters, each with their own stories, that all weave in and out of each others lives.
Small town stories at their best.
Just wonderful.

This book is written from the perspectives of 21 different characters, and tells the story of the author’s earlier book The Spinning Heart, or in other words, each chapter is narrated by a different character from the world of The Spinning Heart. However, if you have not read that book, you can still enjoy these surprisingly diverse perspectives living in rural Ireland.

What gets me each time if the author’s magical writing. The characters are authentic, realistic and lively. They are each complex and the author is a master in bringing them to life with their inner talks, reactions and the flowy use of language. Without that, the high number of characters could have been tiring.