I hadn’t realised that Ciaran McMenamin was now an author, but on the basis of The Sunken Road I’ll be going back to his first novel skintown.

The sunken road is about three friends in the north of Ireland and follows two timelines in parallel - the two men go to fight in the First World War leaving archie’s sister behind, and one returns to the village six years later after joining the fight for independence.

There was a point early on where I was worried that there may be an element of authorly excess in terms of use of metaphor , but in retrospect this is unfair - McMenamin sells the frontline conditions, the mentality and the fraternal bonds within the soldiers but also the reframing that comes of both surviving - at a cost- and effectively changing sides to fight the British.

Convincingly and movingly told, there’s a balance of big politics and small relationships, as well the natural tension and pacing of a thriller. Great to read a new voice, and to uncover a fresh perspective for me on the arguably already well told First World War setting